Knowing the background biology for the barnacles way of attaching is one of the resources that have been used to identify Medetomidine (trade name Selektope®) as an antifouling substance.
How can Selektope® be so effective in very low doses?. The answer is its specificity by being a molecule that modulates a key event in the barnacle life cycle.
In contrast to being toxic, Selektope®stimulates a specific protein on the cell surface, changing the larvaes behaviour from searching for a surface to settle on, to a swimming behaviour.
We have measured the effect of Selektope®. How fast can a barnacle larvae swim? It swims at the most 1mm/s which is twice its own length. Human swims approximately one human length per second.
A barnacle larvae in comparison with a needle. The larva is about half a millimeter long.