I travelled to Scotland recently where I took this picture of an organism (see Photo). It was smooth, glossy and transparent like melting ice, and quite hard to the touch. It was not alone; there were four others close by, the biggest of which was about 20 centimetres across. Can any reader tell me what it is?
There are lots of ideas about what this object is, none of which are conclusive. It does seem as though there is an army of different jelly-like objects invading our coasts. Check out 鈥淟ump life鈥� from The Last Word of 24 July 2004 鈥� Ed
鈥� The organism is most likely a fungus from the family Phanerochaetaceae called Phlebiopsis gigantea. As with many organisms, the naming of this fungus has troubled taxonomists, so in some books it is called Phlebia gigantea and in others Peniophora gigantea. The fungus is interesting because it has been deliberately introduced by humans into pine forests as a biological control against the timber-spoiling fungus Heterobasidion annosum from the family Bondarzewiaceae.
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A less likely candidate is a fungus from the related family Cyphellaceae called Radulomyces confluens. The description of the organism as being glossy, almost transparent and quite hard to the touch rules out slime mould (Myxomycetes), contrary to what the question鈥檚 headline suggests.
Peter Cook, Withernsea, East Yorkshire, UK
鈥� I have two thoughts on this. The first is that it is 鈥渟tar jelly鈥� (also known as 鈥渨itches鈥� butter鈥�), more correctly described as the cyanobacterium nostoc, which forms jelly-like masses. The second is that it is frozen human excrement dropped from a toilet of a passing plane.
Rich Boden, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
鈥� This might be unfertilised . The spawn is formed prior to breeding and is stored in the amphibian鈥檚 body before it is fertilised. When exposed to air it spontaneously explodes into slime. This can be seen in late winter or early spring, and is attributed to predation by herons. These birds can eat large numbers of frogs or toads, conveniently eating the body but not the spawn 鈥� leaving no clue as to where the slime came from.
鈥淲hen frog or toad spawn is exposed to air it spontaneously explodes into slime鈥�
Colin Campbell, Science leader, Soils Group, Macaulay Institute Aberdeen, UK
鈥� A lack of information about the habitat of the organisms makes it hard to be accurate, but it looks as if it could be the seashore, in which case what the reader observed could be a group of simple tunicates, also known as sea squirts, urochordates or ascidians. These are marine animals which begin life as tiny tadpole-like creatures that settle down on rocks or seaweed to become adults. They then become covered in a coat of cellulose and spend their life filtering food from seawater. They are occasionally washed up on the beach at Portobello near my home after rough seas.
If the object is hard, it鈥檚 unlikely to be the most common species, Ciona intestinalis, so it could be Ascidiella aspersa. A larger species is Phallusia mammillata, which is covered with rounded elevations, hence its specific name.
Tim Bolton-Maggs, Edinburgh, UK
鈥� The organism is the pupa of a . Your correspondent is very fortunate: haggis normally pupate only under cover of dense heather or bracken, and pupation usually happens at the onset of the Scottish winter in early September. In due course the outer skin becomes opaque, and the inner tissues become firm and granular as water is lost. It is at this point that pupating haggis are collected for human consumption. Those that elude would-be gourmets remain in a dormant state until spring, emerging as fully developed adults or 鈥渋magos鈥�, ready to seek a mate and ensure the continued supply of this delicacy.
Maxwell Buchanan, Cambridge, UK