What is Barbaracle based on?

This post is part of a three-part series covering Kalos' invertebrate Pokémon, spawned from the hype of the Pokémon Legends ZA announcement. This is part two, focusing on Binacle and Barbaracle

Part One (Malamar) - https://invertposting.blogspot.com/2024/03/what-is-malamar-based-on.html

Binacle and Barbaracle are clearly based on the goose-necked barnacle, Pollicipes pollicipes. These barnacles are filter-feeders, who attach themselves to hard surfaces, such a rocks, on exposed coasts. P. pollicipes are European, but there are American equivalents. These Pokémon are distinctly colonial; several individuals make up a singular body, something reflected in real life goose-necked barnacles.

Barbaracle's design in particular may be inspired by the French name for these barnacles, "pouce-pied", which apparently translates to "thumb-foot". Barbaracle may also take inspiration from barnacle trees; part of a larger myth about migrating birds.

During the middle ages, where birds went while migrating was not known. Various ideas included underwater hibernation and turning into other animals. The reproduction of these birds was another unsolved mystery at the time, since young individuals would accompany returning flocks. Somewhere along the way, scholars thought that these birds, particularly the Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis), hatched from barnacles. Goose-necked barnacles, as their common name suggests, were thought to look similar to the neck of the Barnacle goose, so some relationship was assumed. Presuming that these birds were hibernating underwater, these barnacles appeared to be their eggs coming ashore.

Others guessed, based on barnacles attached to driftwood, that these birds were laying these barnacle "eggs" on trees somewhere, as seen in the above image. This line of thought led to many viewing these geese as different compared to other birds.

Pope Innocent III did not allow these geese to be eaten during Lent. Although fish and other marine creatures were allowed to be consumed during this time, these geese were still birds, regardless of their odd reproduction method. Rabbeinu Tam also determined that they were kosher, even if they were born from trees, and should be prepared the same way any other bird would be.

These theories were not wholeheartedly accepted everywhere - for example, Albertus Magnus criticized this idea multiple times. Either way, barnacles sprouting from a tree is a unique visual, something I imagine a Pokémon designer would take into account

(My summary of this mythology has been incredibly brief by the way, if you want a more in-depth view on the topic, read Edward Heron-Allen's "Barnacles In Nature And In Myth" - https://archive.org/details/barnacles-in-nature-and-in-myth or even the Wikipedia article, which was vastly updated after I wrote this post - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle_goose_myth)

Barbaracle may pull from those myths, that French name, or may just be a giant colony of barnacles; after all its French name "Golgopathe" uses the word "golgoth" meaning colossus, suggesting some giant brute. Bulbapedia does also mention various deities with eyes on their hands.

Goose-necked barnacles are not exclusive to France by any means, nor was the myth of Barnacle geese started there, so why exactly are these Pokémon from Kalos?

This is likely due to the goose-necked barnacle industry, of which France is a major, major part of. Goose-necked barnacles are a major delicacy in Spain (and France too, technically), and are exported to Spain in incredibly high numbers. This industry has expanded rapidly, nearly doubling from 227 tons of barnacle collected in 1994 to 400 tonnes in 2001, growing even further from there.

It should be noted that commercial exploitation of these barnacles is an incredibly recent industry. In France, widespread exportation only started in the 70's or so, after barnacle numbers dwindled in Spain. Spain has consumed these barnacles for an incredibly long time, at least since the Mesolithic (about 8000 BP)!

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223543286

This modern surge in exploitation has created many issues for these barnacles. They grow quite slowly and rely on very specific habitats; they will not great in areas with little water movement, nor in deep waters. This essentially restricts them to the coast where they are easily plucked in large quantities, both legally and illegally. The scarcity of these barnacles has led to an increase in prices, leading more people to try and sell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq59vxXE5eE

Soon, these barnacles may become regionally extinct, leading other shorelines farther north or west to be picked clean as well. Effort has recent been put into lab-growing these barnacles, which may become widespread in the near future.

https://phys.org/news/2017-10-inroads-farming-gooseneck-barnacles.html

Their key role in the economy of France is certainly why their present in Kalos. Their absence in Paldea may seem baffling, but maybe it's commentary on the direction these animals are headed; plucked completely from the shores of the region. That's certainly speculation on my end, maybe they were just forgotten

Part Three (Vivillon) - https://invertposting.blogspot.com/2024/03/what-is-vivillon-based-on.html

Images from –
https://buenavistaseafood.com/percebes-gooseneck-barnacles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle_goose#/media/File:Barnacle-Goose.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle_goose_myth#/media/File:The_%22Barnacle_Geese%22_being_born_then_swimming_away._Wellcome_M0005645.jpg