The barnacles seen in pictures of the aircraft part believed to be from missing Air Malaysia flight MH370 are likely to have been growing there for a year, an expert has said.
This would roughly correspond with the date the passenger jet carrying 239 passengers and crew went missing - March last year.
Newspaper Journal de l'Ile de la Reunion showed the pictures of shellfish attached to the aircraft part found on the shore of Saint-Andre in Reunion to a marine biology researcher from the Naval School of Brest.
Joseph Poupin said the creatures belong to the species Lepas Anatifera, which live in temperate or warm waters, like the Indian Ocean.
These creatures grow from one or two centimetres per year. He estimates they fixed onto the wreckage several months or a year ago.
Scientists in Australia are also examining pictures of marine life on the wreckage, which is believed to be the flaperon from a Boeing 777.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said government scientists were looking at the photographs to see if the barnacles on the wreckage reflect the amount of time its been in the water.
Malaysia Airlines was operating a Boeing 777 on the ill-fated flight. It vanished without a trace in March last year while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history.