1908_11683 Slime Mould
I found two different slime moulds in the coniferous forests of coastal BC. Long thought to be fungi, they are now classified as a type of amoeba. If you see a blob of yellow goo on a rotting log in the forest, it is probably a slime mould. Its life cycle is beyond fascinating. Single, amoeba-like cells mate (with others of their kind) to make zygotes which grow into plasmodia. This shape-shifting, pulsating mass then travels in search of prey - bacteria, fungi, pretty much anything it can find and eat. It seems to exhibit intelligence. Ecology professor John Tyler Bonner suggests that they are "no more than a bag of amoebae encased in a thin slime sheath, yet they manage to have various behaviours that are equal to those of animals who possess muscles and nerves with ganglia - that is, simple brains." Eventually the mass of cells transforms into stems and spores for reproduction; I think the beginning of this life stage is what we're looking at in the photo above. And I think this is probably the slime mould commonly called Dog Vomit. Such a demeaning name to give to a clever colonial creature that we misunderstood for so long!
The shallow depth of field despite a very small f-stop should give you some idea of size. You have to look closely to see more than a simple blob. You are looking at clever slime. Who knows what it will do next?
Photographed in Marble River Provincial Park, BC (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2019 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
1908_11683 Slime Mould
I found two different slime moulds in the coniferous forests of coastal BC. Long thought to be fungi, they are now classified as a type of amoeba. If you see a blob of yellow goo on a rotting log in the forest, it is probably a slime mould. Its life cycle is beyond fascinating. Single, amoeba-like cells mate (with others of their kind) to make zygotes which grow into plasmodia. This shape-shifting, pulsating mass then travels in search of prey - bacteria, fungi, pretty much anything it can find and eat. It seems to exhibit intelligence. Ecology professor John Tyler Bonner suggests that they are "no more than a bag of amoebae encased in a thin slime sheath, yet they manage to have various behaviours that are equal to those of animals who possess muscles and nerves with ganglia - that is, simple brains." Eventually the mass of cells transforms into stems and spores for reproduction; I think the beginning of this life stage is what we're looking at in the photo above. And I think this is probably the slime mould commonly called Dog Vomit. Such a demeaning name to give to a clever colonial creature that we misunderstood for so long!
The shallow depth of field despite a very small f-stop should give you some idea of size. You have to look closely to see more than a simple blob. You are looking at clever slime. Who knows what it will do next?
Photographed in Marble River Provincial Park, BC (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2019 James R. Page - all rights reserved.