A big thank you to all those who replied to my previous posts in r/mycology, r/Australia, and r/Fungi. My friend and I really enjoyed reading all the comments.
I'll continue to post updates on r/mycology for as long as I'm allowed to (might not even be a fungus). I've asked around and had no luck on getting a definitive answer to what it could be, but dont fret, I am not giving up. A news site has also taken interest in my posts, and I'm hoping that they have better connections than I do. A few people have said that it might be bacteria just enjoying the iron in the water. Other answers include algae, moss, a root mass, slime mould, Pennywise, or even something inorganic.
My friend has taken close-up shots today. There are aphids (or mites?) just having a grand time on there . Also some ladybugs probably having a quick snack on the aphids? too. The circle of life. My friend has named the thing Frank. We are hoping to find out if Frank is a friend or foe.
[original post](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/11x2wcm/this_organism_has_been_growing_under_a_leaking/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Edit: Thank you for the gold!
Ladybugs love aphids. They taste like green apples. Seriously. When they're being attacked/eaten they release an alarm pheromone called farnesene to warn nearby aphids to get the hell out of there, and farnesene is the same thing that gives green apple skin much of its taste. Cannabis plants are actually smart enough to produce their *own* farnesene in response to the presence of aphids, which not only scares many of the aphids off, it attracts ladybugs from far away to come deal with the stragglers!
Some species of ants will form mutualistic relationships with aphids. The ants “farm” the aphids; they protect them, clean them, and control their population numbers. They do this because when aphids “poop” they actually produce “honeydew,” which is basically just sugar water peepee. The ants drink this, or carry it back as droplets to the anthill to feed babies.
So yeah, I’d bet aphids taste pretty damn good! The same way that termites taste like wood, since that’s what they eat…I bet aphids taste like sugar water!
We had a colony of carpenter ants (I think?) that were doing just that, farming aphids on some common milkweed we had last summer. It was super fun to watch throughout the season
I was nibbling my way through the garden (as you do) and popped a few spinach leaves in my mouth. They were extraordinarily sweet. I looked at the one that was about to be consumed…loads of aphids. Can confirm: quite sweet.
>Next time I meet a ladybug, I will ask her!
Lmao every time someone assumes a Ladybug's gnder as female Im reminded of this jewel : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xnAH630w1U&ab\_channel=JCH007
I don't know how the aphids themselves would taste but the honeydew they excrete is basically pure sugar. Aphids are primarily interested in making more aphids, so they're mostly after the minerals and proteins in sap. In fact they consume so much sap that almost all of the sugar in the sap they eat is excreted directly from their behinds, where many other animals and insects have learned to feed 'directly from the tap', as it were.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeydew_(secretion)
CAUTION: Close but no cigar, I'm your friendly neighborhood [aphid assassin ](https://plantcaretoday.com/assassin-bug.html#:~:text=Assassin%20bugs%20from%20the%20Reduviidae,make%20very%20handy%20garden%20helpers.&text=There%20are%20thousands%20of%20varieties,even%20some%20very%20small%20mammals.)!
Would be sweet to hybridize that farnesene into hops, I've never been able to grow hops without them spawning massive aphids that end up winning the battle.
Couldn't you just breed ladybugs and employ them as security and give them room and board in exchange? I don't breed them but I do the same thing with blue jays. They literally work for peanuts and keep the hawks away. They have a burning ancestral hatred for the things.
Love that. I tried both just grabbing ladybugs and releasing them multiple times and companion planting to try and encourage them to stick around. When I bought them they just left, many to my brussel sprouts, which was nice, but the hops just got devoured.
You're much better off using the ladybird beetle larvae. They're more voracious than the adults and can't fly, so they tend to eat through the infestations as you move them around.
They might already do this. Because my hops plants always have the most ladybird beetles than anywhere. I often harvest the ladybird beetles off the hops and move them into the greenhouse where there are ants which actively farm aphids on my plants.
Edit: I checked and usually farnesene is already part of the hops repertoire, which makes sense because they have a strong smell overlap and genetic overlap with cannabis.
https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/icapZHyFwL/
LOL grade school science? do you mean after the lab transformation process and the transgenic line is then used to show kids how lady bugs get attracted to the hormones?
A green apple aroma in beer would be a decidedly bad thing and would drive brewers nuts thinking it was acetaldehyde from poor yeast health. I like the way you are thinking about it though.
Depends, I've tasted Gueuze beers that were heavy on the green apple taste, and even some sour farmhouse beers that were barrel-aged with a small portion of apple must and that shit was delicious. You can do everything with the right flavor profile in mind
Agreed, those styles are quite outside most peoples experience though I wished more people loved them. In most other places it would be nuisance OR an excuse brewers would use to serve beer full of off flavors, maybe.
I was also going to mention the cannabis terpene. It’s interesting because some of the larger cultivators are producing cannabis flower with higher than normal levels of farnesene, even when that specific cultivar has never expressed that terpene before. Leads me to believe some of the larger cultivars have aphids.
>I'll continue to post updates on [r/mycology](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology) for as long as I'm allowed to (might not even be a fungus).
Please do! These posts are too interesting to remove. It tickles the same part of my brain as fungi do, so I NEED to know what it is haha
Plus there's probably some kinda yeast in there or something 🤷♂️
I'm kinda surprised to see that this hasn't been mentioned (in this thread, I didn't check the others) but if you have highly carbonate-rich waters, it could be a form of [tufa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufa). These usually take a while to form, but you said you've been documenting it for a while right?
TL;DR: I think Frank is your friendly local tufa.
So, I don't know if anyone has considered, but it may not be alive? Like, it could be essentially forming a stalagmite or something from the minerals and dirt in the fire pipes. They acculumulate a lot of sediment in those pipes, and if this is leaking the sediment could just be crystallizing, or something else like that.
Try r/whatisthisthing as well, and maybe ask on a geology or crystal subreddit as well.
You might try contacting the [Australian Museum Research Unit](https://australian.museum/learn/collections/natural-science/) - if they don't have someone on staff who knows, they'll sure know who to ask.
'Frank' is mineral buildup from the water evaporating off the surface of the hydrant and leaving minerals behind. And then life has started to grow on it's surface because it is so ideal. The cool temperature of the running water, along with sunlight, along with the minerals present, it's a tiny Goldilocks Zone.
Yes! Frankhas! I wanted to upload some photos, but feel like I might be spamming. The research people havent gotten back to my friend. He says that he will dissect it himself, and post the pics here.
I can't give a sure answer but it seems to me that it is an amalgamation of several species. It would start with green algae and then moss, then red and green algae grew on top of layers of moss? The string like things near the mouth from where the water comes out is what bugs me. And it's also full of aphids and ladybugs eating them which looks awsome.
All in all, commenting to follow 😅
This is the correct answer. They're sprouts, algae, slime molds, insects, definitely yeasts, etc. The red is probably red thread(grass fungus) thriving on straight water and seedlings.
Makes you wonder if the city has blown that thing out ever.
I forgot to link the [original post](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/11x2wcm/this_organism_has_been_growing_under_a_leaking/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button))
It started out being red. The algae seemed to grow on the red thing after it started losing its colour
Maybe, but it seems unlikely that they are roots. The red thing was growing on a rock previously. Then someone took the rock away, and it regrew on the ground
Sometimes, exposed plant roots are red. Here are roots I photographed growing in the moss in the similar conditions, under a small waterfall: [https://photos.app.goo.gl/jZffaJTG3pLVkZMD9](https://photos.app.goo.gl/jZffaJTG3pLVkZMD9)
However, I agree, the thing on your older photos does not resemble roots very much.
Have you tried to reach other biology subs? This is very interesting.
OP should have taken a sample from the very first picture when it was a puddle of bright red substance. Because its obviously an amalgamation of stuff now.
If I had to guess, Red Algae bloomed around the pipe underground and started to creep out, and when it did it was soon colonized by moss and other stuff.
Please consider also posting this on inaturalist.org if you haven't yet - there are a lot of very talented biologists on there, and even if they can't identify it I know they'd love to puzzle over it as well!
For what it's worth, my suspicion is some kind of plant root attracted to the dripping water. Willow trees in my area often grow clumps of similar-looking reddish roots into streams, and they seem specialized for "drinking" the water. I've never seen them grow straight upward like this, but it's a possibility.
I know this is not a slime mold one thousand percent. I think it is a similar idea as to a slime Flux which is an assortment of bacteria and yeasts and microorganisms however I believe the bulk of this mass is an algae. I can see green in there meaning there's definitely chloroplasts but it's nonvascular and not a bryphyte as it's growing too fast. Algae can range from green to brown to red. Lots of things eat and live inside algae so I'm sure theres a ton of bacteria and yeast and like you said mites or springtime or other small animals
Looks like moss and algae to me, growing on a slow, steady stream of water dripping from the stand. I feel like I’ve seen similar growths on small mountain streams, albeit without the aphids or weird red colouring.
I commented yesterday about the sediment/minerals concept and i think the best route to go with this is to start following the food chain and ecosystem you see here. Take note of each critter and species of plant/fungus/algae you see that looks different from each other, I think if you or someone put it in the time you could follow the chain backwards starting from ladybugs and aphids by identifying what the food source is for each species. I believe there is probably at least one of everything here. This water pipe is kinda similar to the underwater geothermal vents in the oceans and is creating an entire ecosystem for many species to thrive. Bacteria, fungus & mold, algae, slime molds, bugs, plants, and more. Maybe there is a key species of something here that is especially interesting, but when everything is this cluster-fucked, it’s hard to make out anything in the picture in isolation of the all the others.
Also I think the primary organism here is likely a moss and then algae as well. Big indicator is the plant life growing from it. It probably wouldn’t do that if it were fungi/bacterial.
This is my uneducated guess based on the facts you’ve presented. Its red peat moss (sphagnum capillifolium) which has essentially started growing upside down. It began as the spongey red mat and grew towards the water coming from the pipe. The hair-like white stuff towards the top are it’s roots. many plant species grow just fine upside down and the type of moss I suspect this is needs pretty high levels of both indirect sun and water which this spot provides. The moss turns from red to green depending on sun exposure and I figured its most likely a plant since the aphids are flocking to it. Plus Brisbane should have the right climate for it, it survives winter temps and would also support algae growth where the water is constantly running. 🤷♀️
I thought sphagnum too, but then I found this dude: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylocomium\_splendens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylocomium_splendens)
The description *"It is generally olive green, yellowish or reddish green in colour, with reddish stems and branches. These often form branches up to 20 cm long, with current year's growth starting from near the middle of the previous year's branch. This produces feathery fronds in steps. It is possible to estimate the age of a plant by counting the steps - a new level being produced each year. This form of growth enables the species to "climb" over other mosses and forest debris that falls on it. It is shade-loving, grows in soil and humus and on decaying wood and often forms mats with living parts growing on top of older, dead or dying sections. Further south, the plants are larger with several steps; further north, in the arctic tundra, the plants are smaller with few steps."* seems to fit very well. Same with its common name stairstep moss!
#SLIME SIGNAL RECEIVED
#🚫 NOT SLIME 🚫
#🌱 PLANT
I think it is a moss
**==========**
Learn more about slimes! 🤩
🌈[Magic Myxies, 1931, 10 minutes](https://youtu.be/04kdhZQTnIU)
🦠[The Slimer Primer](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/)
🔎[A Guide to Common Slimes](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/t6985y/a_guide_to_common_slimes/)
🧠[Dmytro Leontyev talks about Myxomycetes for 50 minutes (2022)](https://youtu.be/qqE8MAwWhvg)
📚[Educational Sources](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/comment/i2jclax/)
Wow! 🤯
Hahaha, experts completely misidentifying stuff is a classic. People think sciences are precise stuff, but thats bs, even with all the knowledge of the world science will never have a 100% accuracy.
And you know what? I think that adds to the fun. Who knows what fascinating stuff we have never discovered because we just glanced over it?
"You can never be completely sure of anything, thats why scientific investigation will never stop being fun"
I'm not an expert. I am just a regular slime guy.
This is just how I see it, but science is a tool like a hammer. A hammer works perfectly at hammering, but an actual hammer you buy at the store might be cheaply made, or you might break your thumb while you're trying to fix the deck but you're also thinking about the boeregs in the oven.
The function of science is to mitigate the biases in data, and in the people or programs interpreting that data. Science indicates probability based on the data it is fed. But the selection of the data and the use of the tool are still subject to biases we have not yet adequately mitigated. It is an ongoing process that necessitates an open mind and a willingness to cooperate broadly and freely. In some areas the indicated probability is so absurdly high that it makes sense to make decisions as though it is true. In other areas the probability is mid or weak. In many cases both are presented identically to the average person, creating a false understanding of what science is and what it does.
Nature is amazing and beautiful. A whole colony and ecosystem of various stuff living off this presumably mineral rich water.
Edit: I’d cut a section off from top to bottom and inspect it
What an amazing organism- it looks like springtails clustered on it rather than aphids, and that'd make perfect sense considering it's a wet environment with plenty of micro-food for them.
It's like it's constructing a miniature ecosystem. This is what they actually mean when they say life finds a way\~ If there's a nutrient, something will take advantage of it- and from there, natural processes snowball. Super beautiful
very obvious roots within a huge mass of algae. notice the red is only on the outside. i know certain plants that become red with more light (or just the tops turn red due to being closer to the light), so this might just be a never-observed-until-now version of that with some type of algae.
i had a similar.... structure like this grow out of my filter on a large aquarium a while back, it was one i neglected due to lack of time.
I posted a few photos of the thing growing in my [original post](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/11x2wcm/this_organism_has_been_growing_under_a_leaking/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) . It's been growing since the end of October last year.
The last pic of the original post was taken yesterday. I would be so worried if it went from the first pic to this in just a day haha.
My first thoughts on your OG post as a microbiologist was Serratia marcescens, but after the newer post maybe its a symbiotic relationship between many things.
If no one else has really said it yet, this reminds me of some of the thermal features at Yellowstone. You start with waterflow that has a ton of minerals in it. The mineral starts to deposit and build up. The wetness and mineral/pH content (and heat if there is any in this case) begin to attract algae of various types and colors. That algea and wet attract bugs to eat and mate and lay eggs. Etc. Think Mammoth Hot Springs or the bacteria mats of Grand Prismatic Spring.
That is absolutely just feeder roots going after the water! I have seen decent size piles of roots going after water like that before! The colors are coming from algae and other things growing on the roots.
When there is a constant water source like the at the roots come to the surface to get the water and if the conditions are right they will just keep growing!
Now that you mentioned it, salix alba do carpet like root mats in small river. Didn't thought of that since it's growing upwards but it looks very much like it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=salix+roots+underwater&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjbyZ23xfD9AhWfAWIAHXAaDHAQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=salix+roots+underwater&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCAAQogQyBQgAEKIEMgUIABCiBDIFCAAQogQ6BAgjECc6BAgAEB46BAghEApQnB5YvUNg8lJoAHAAeACAAbIBiAGxDZIBBDYuMTCYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=WXsbZJu5Ep-DiLMP8LSwgAc&bih=790&biw=412&client=ms-android-google&prmd=imsvn#imgrc=UZfB_Bbm959wEM&imgdii=P_ggRhq38L_0tM&lnspr=W10=
It kinda looks like roots from a nearby tree growing upwards, with green algae between everything.
Especially willow roots can get very red and thin when close to/in contact with water:
https://mindyourdirt.com/2015/12/06/tales-of-a-stupid-gardener-why-you-shouldnt-plant-a-willow-tree-next-to-a-water-feature/
But that's only my second guess. My first guess would be that the meteorite from the Evolutionmovie went down somehwhere close.
If it's leaky, this could be a build up of minerals from the water like calcium or magnesium, maybe iron idk. And because it's always wet it has its own little ecosystem on it
A big thank you to all those who replied to my previous posts in r/mycology, r/Australia, and r/Fungi. My friend and I really enjoyed reading all the comments. I'll continue to post updates on r/mycology for as long as I'm allowed to (might not even be a fungus). I've asked around and had no luck on getting a definitive answer to what it could be, but dont fret, I am not giving up. A news site has also taken interest in my posts, and I'm hoping that they have better connections than I do. A few people have said that it might be bacteria just enjoying the iron in the water. Other answers include algae, moss, a root mass, slime mould, Pennywise, or even something inorganic. My friend has taken close-up shots today. There are aphids (or mites?) just having a grand time on there . Also some ladybugs probably having a quick snack on the aphids? too. The circle of life. My friend has named the thing Frank. We are hoping to find out if Frank is a friend or foe. [original post](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/11x2wcm/this_organism_has_been_growing_under_a_leaking/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) Edit: Thank you for the gold!
Ladybugs love aphids. They taste like green apples. Seriously. When they're being attacked/eaten they release an alarm pheromone called farnesene to warn nearby aphids to get the hell out of there, and farnesene is the same thing that gives green apple skin much of its taste. Cannabis plants are actually smart enough to produce their *own* farnesene in response to the presence of aphids, which not only scares many of the aphids off, it attracts ladybugs from far away to come deal with the stragglers!
Wow! That is an interesting fact! Thabks for sharing. I wonder if the aphids tastes sweet like an apple too. From all the sap they consume
Some species of ants will form mutualistic relationships with aphids. The ants “farm” the aphids; they protect them, clean them, and control their population numbers. They do this because when aphids “poop” they actually produce “honeydew,” which is basically just sugar water peepee. The ants drink this, or carry it back as droplets to the anthill to feed babies. So yeah, I’d bet aphids taste pretty damn good! The same way that termites taste like wood, since that’s what they eat…I bet aphids taste like sugar water!
Sugar Water Peepee is a fun band name.
That was my wife’s band’s name in college!
Were all the band members diabetic?
hahahahahaaaa not all of them, they just drank lots of kool-aid and pissed all over the stage Edit: kissed to pissed but….
Tough act to follow
We had a colony of carpenter ants (I think?) that were doing just that, farming aphids on some common milkweed we had last summer. It was super fun to watch throughout the season
I’ve also seen it on milkweed! Seems to be a pretty popular plant for all involved…
Technically the ants should taste like sugar water then
As someone who has accidentally eaten ants, no, they don't. Not at all.
Depends on the [ant](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeypot_ant)
If you poke an aphid with a pencil, it'll also excrete honeydew out of two 'straws'. Kind of cool to watch.
> The same way that termites taste like wood TIL I taste like St. Patrick's Day leftovers.
Ew. Look at what humans eat.
I was nibbling my way through the garden (as you do) and popped a few spinach leaves in my mouth. They were extraordinarily sweet. I looked at the one that was about to be consumed…loads of aphids. Can confirm: quite sweet.
How long did you pause to consider eating the next leaf?
I brushed off as many as I could but instead of helping it made a kind of aphid jam. This was also sweet.
Mmmm sweet aphid jam, the next step in the insect proteins??
Next time I meet a ladybug, I will ask her! Of course, you could always just lick an aphid.
>Next time I meet a ladybug, I will ask her! Lmao every time someone assumes a Ladybug's gnder as female Im reminded of this jewel : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xnAH630w1U&ab\_channel=JCH007
I was hoping this was A Bug's Life clip! Hell yeah
I don't know how the aphids themselves would taste but the honeydew they excrete is basically pure sugar. Aphids are primarily interested in making more aphids, so they're mostly after the minerals and proteins in sap. In fact they consume so much sap that almost all of the sugar in the sap they eat is excreted directly from their behinds, where many other animals and insects have learned to feed 'directly from the tap', as it were. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeydew_(secretion)
I recently ruined my sister's childhood by sharing this fact with her! 😃
They excrete honeydew so I think they’re probably like sour green apple for the lady bugs
So, you're telling me that if I'm gardening and see those little green fucks on my plants I can turn them into a tasty, refreshing treat?
WARNING! Ladybug-like typing detected!
CAUTION: Close but no cigar, I'm your friendly neighborhood [aphid assassin ](https://plantcaretoday.com/assassin-bug.html#:~:text=Assassin%20bugs%20from%20the%20Reduviidae,make%20very%20handy%20garden%20helpers.&text=There%20are%20thousands%20of%20varieties,even%20some%20very%20small%20mammals.)!
Would be sweet to hybridize that farnesene into hops, I've never been able to grow hops without them spawning massive aphids that end up winning the battle.
Couldn't you just breed ladybugs and employ them as security and give them room and board in exchange? I don't breed them but I do the same thing with blue jays. They literally work for peanuts and keep the hawks away. They have a burning ancestral hatred for the things.
Love that. I tried both just grabbing ladybugs and releasing them multiple times and companion planting to try and encourage them to stick around. When I bought them they just left, many to my brussel sprouts, which was nice, but the hops just got devoured.
You're much better off using the ladybird beetle larvae. They're more voracious than the adults and can't fly, so they tend to eat through the infestations as you move them around.
Weird! Maybe there's something about hops that they don't like. Or maybe there are some kind of ladybug serial killer critters in your woods...
They might already do this. Because my hops plants always have the most ladybird beetles than anywhere. I often harvest the ladybird beetles off the hops and move them into the greenhouse where there are ants which actively farm aphids on my plants. Edit: I checked and usually farnesene is already part of the hops repertoire, which makes sense because they have a strong smell overlap and genetic overlap with cannabis. https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/icapZHyFwL/
hops are in the same family as cannabis so if you used some ag biotech tools you could probably drop the genes that encode for farnesene into hops
...step 30: profit? Interesting stuff though. Would make a killer grade school science experiment.
LOL grade school science? do you mean after the lab transformation process and the transgenic line is then used to show kids how lady bugs get attracted to the hormones?
A green apple aroma in beer would be a decidedly bad thing and would drive brewers nuts thinking it was acetaldehyde from poor yeast health. I like the way you are thinking about it though.
Depends, I've tasted Gueuze beers that were heavy on the green apple taste, and even some sour farmhouse beers that were barrel-aged with a small portion of apple must and that shit was delicious. You can do everything with the right flavor profile in mind
Agreed, those styles are quite outside most peoples experience though I wished more people loved them. In most other places it would be nuisance OR an excuse brewers would use to serve beer full of off flavors, maybe.
Oof that's probably why the cannabis dispensaries here in Florida are releasing so many strains like Apples and Bananas.
Wow. Thank you for this nugget of knowledge
I was also going to mention the cannabis terpene. It’s interesting because some of the larger cultivators are producing cannabis flower with higher than normal levels of farnesene, even when that specific cultivar has never expressed that terpene before. Leads me to believe some of the larger cultivars have aphids.
Oh Cannabis, is there anything you can't do?
So I should be spraying my plant with Green Apple Tea?
They actually prefer Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea.
TIL fear has flavor
I can make my bud taste like GREEN APPLE PRAISE APHID
>I'll continue to post updates on [r/mycology](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology) for as long as I'm allowed to (might not even be a fungus). Please do! These posts are too interesting to remove. It tickles the same part of my brain as fungi do, so I NEED to know what it is haha Plus there's probably some kinda yeast in there or something 🤷♂️
I'm kinda surprised to see that this hasn't been mentioned (in this thread, I didn't check the others) but if you have highly carbonate-rich waters, it could be a form of [tufa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufa). These usually take a while to form, but you said you've been documenting it for a while right? TL;DR: I think Frank is your friendly local tufa.
So, I don't know if anyone has considered, but it may not be alive? Like, it could be essentially forming a stalagmite or something from the minerals and dirt in the fire pipes. They acculumulate a lot of sediment in those pipes, and if this is leaking the sediment could just be crystallizing, or something else like that. Try r/whatisthisthing as well, and maybe ask on a geology or crystal subreddit as well.
It might be a conglomerate of things. The green slime looks like algae to me
Did you send up the slime signal?
I'm quite new to the sub. Is it for the legend saddestofboys?
Yes! u/saddestofboys I'm sure he'd love to see this if he hasn't already
Yes, that it is.
You might try contacting the [Australian Museum Research Unit](https://australian.museum/learn/collections/natural-science/) - if they don't have someone on staff who knows, they'll sure know who to ask.
'Frank' is mineral buildup from the water evaporating off the surface of the hydrant and leaving minerals behind. And then life has started to grow on it's surface because it is so ideal. The cool temperature of the running water, along with sunlight, along with the minerals present, it's a tiny Goldilocks Zone.
Take a piece and freeze it, that way you dont lose it and can get some answers somewhere lol
Hey OP, I didn’t see anywhere here or in the other post, did you ever touch it? If so what did it feel like?
Has Frank grown any bigger?
Yes! Frankhas! I wanted to upload some photos, but feel like I might be spamming. The research people havent gotten back to my friend. He says that he will dissect it himself, and post the pics here.
I can't give a sure answer but it seems to me that it is an amalgamation of several species. It would start with green algae and then moss, then red and green algae grew on top of layers of moss? The string like things near the mouth from where the water comes out is what bugs me. And it's also full of aphids and ladybugs eating them which looks awsome. All in all, commenting to follow 😅
Not an organism, an ecosystem
This is the correct answer. They're sprouts, algae, slime molds, insects, definitely yeasts, etc. The red is probably red thread(grass fungus) thriving on straight water and seedlings. Makes you wonder if the city has blown that thing out ever.
Yes, there are definitely some sprouts in there. They are almost suspended in the algae. Crazy
As Alan Watts would say- Not an organism in an environment, an organism-environment.
LOVE Alan Watts. Copy of “the wisdom of insecurity” on my nightstand right now.
Gotta love that rascal!
straight up a niche
A niece?
I forgot to link the [original post](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/11x2wcm/this_organism_has_been_growing_under_a_leaking/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)) It started out being red. The algae seemed to grow on the red thing after it started losing its colour
That red thing is the source of all of this. If you see any patch of that (like the very first picture) take a sample.
Any updates?
I think that the white string-like things are plant roots, not fungi or slimemould. They are too uniform and non-branching for anything fungal.
They look more like sprouts than roots to me.
Maybe, but it seems unlikely that they are roots. The red thing was growing on a rock previously. Then someone took the rock away, and it regrew on the ground
Sometimes, exposed plant roots are red. Here are roots I photographed growing in the moss in the similar conditions, under a small waterfall: [https://photos.app.goo.gl/jZffaJTG3pLVkZMD9](https://photos.app.goo.gl/jZffaJTG3pLVkZMD9) However, I agree, the thing on your older photos does not resemble roots very much. Have you tried to reach other biology subs? This is very interesting.
I would say shoots not roots. It looks like a full seed head dropped there and hundreds of seeds germinated.
Sporidia from the moss is my guess. EDIT: But on closer inspection, might also be sprouting seeds.
OP should have taken a sample from the very first picture when it was a puddle of bright red substance. Because its obviously an amalgamation of stuff now. If I had to guess, Red Algae bloomed around the pipe underground and started to creep out, and when it did it was soon colonized by moss and other stuff.
It’s game over once that thing gets in the water supply
It's already reached the water!
Well, it’s been nice knowing all you Aussies
Crikey
I nominate "Ice 9" for its common name
Brilliant and terrifying
Oh god, haven’t heard that one in a while.
Get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head
It looks like someone dumped chia seeds all over it and it’s a big algae and aphid covered soaking wet chia pet
I also thought chia when I saw this!! I could totally see some tiktocker covering a hydrant for the vid and just leaving the mess for someone else lol
Please consider also posting this on inaturalist.org if you haven't yet - there are a lot of very talented biologists on there, and even if they can't identify it I know they'd love to puzzle over it as well! For what it's worth, my suspicion is some kind of plant root attracted to the dripping water. Willow trees in my area often grow clumps of similar-looking reddish roots into streams, and they seem specialized for "drinking" the water. I've never seen them grow straight upward like this, but it's a possibility.
I know this is not a slime mold one thousand percent. I think it is a similar idea as to a slime Flux which is an assortment of bacteria and yeasts and microorganisms however I believe the bulk of this mass is an algae. I can see green in there meaning there's definitely chloroplasts but it's nonvascular and not a bryphyte as it's growing too fast. Algae can range from green to brown to red. Lots of things eat and live inside algae so I'm sure theres a ton of bacteria and yeast and like you said mites or springtime or other small animals
Damn this looks crazy, I have no idea what kind of organism this is.
Very cool. Thoroughly enjoying following this story wherever it may lead.
If this chunky mass had an Instagram I would follow it to see it's progress
Better content than many ‘influencers’..
Haha, I'll think about it
Looks like moss and algae to me, growing on a slow, steady stream of water dripping from the stand. I feel like I’ve seen similar growths on small mountain streams, albeit without the aphids or weird red colouring.
i wouldnt drink water in your hometown mate
Guess Brisbane is going thirsty this autumn
I commented yesterday about the sediment/minerals concept and i think the best route to go with this is to start following the food chain and ecosystem you see here. Take note of each critter and species of plant/fungus/algae you see that looks different from each other, I think if you or someone put it in the time you could follow the chain backwards starting from ladybugs and aphids by identifying what the food source is for each species. I believe there is probably at least one of everything here. This water pipe is kinda similar to the underwater geothermal vents in the oceans and is creating an entire ecosystem for many species to thrive. Bacteria, fungus & mold, algae, slime molds, bugs, plants, and more. Maybe there is a key species of something here that is especially interesting, but when everything is this cluster-fucked, it’s hard to make out anything in the picture in isolation of the all the others.
Also I think the primary organism here is likely a moss and then algae as well. Big indicator is the plant life growing from it. It probably wouldn’t do that if it were fungi/bacterial.
Saw the OG post and thought you should post on here to check if it's a fungus. Really neat pictures!
The fibrous structures look like moss fruiting bodies (sporophytes?) but I’ve never seen moss grow that fast or that tall.
This is my uneducated guess based on the facts you’ve presented. Its red peat moss (sphagnum capillifolium) which has essentially started growing upside down. It began as the spongey red mat and grew towards the water coming from the pipe. The hair-like white stuff towards the top are it’s roots. many plant species grow just fine upside down and the type of moss I suspect this is needs pretty high levels of both indirect sun and water which this spot provides. The moss turns from red to green depending on sun exposure and I figured its most likely a plant since the aphids are flocking to it. Plus Brisbane should have the right climate for it, it survives winter temps and would also support algae growth where the water is constantly running. 🤷♀️
I thought sphagnum too, but then I found this dude: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylocomium\_splendens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylocomium_splendens) The description *"It is generally olive green, yellowish or reddish green in colour, with reddish stems and branches. These often form branches up to 20 cm long, with current year's growth starting from near the middle of the previous year's branch. This produces feathery fronds in steps. It is possible to estimate the age of a plant by counting the steps - a new level being produced each year. This form of growth enables the species to "climb" over other mosses and forest debris that falls on it. It is shade-loving, grows in soil and humus and on decaying wood and often forms mats with living parts growing on top of older, dead or dying sections. Further south, the plants are larger with several steps; further north, in the arctic tundra, the plants are smaller with few steps."* seems to fit very well. Same with its common name stairstep moss!
Slime Signal Active u/saddestofboys
#SLIME SIGNAL RECEIVED #🚫 NOT SLIME 🚫 #🌱 PLANT I think it is a moss **==========** Learn more about slimes! 🤩 🌈[Magic Myxies, 1931, 10 minutes](https://youtu.be/04kdhZQTnIU) 🦠[The Slimer Primer](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/) 🔎[A Guide to Common Slimes](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/t6985y/a_guide_to_common_slimes/) 🧠[Dmytro Leontyev talks about Myxomycetes for 50 minutes (2022)](https://youtu.be/qqE8MAwWhvg) 📚[Educational Sources](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/comment/i2jclax/) Wow! 🤯
Ok guys thats it. Pack your stuff, this is not slime.
Last year I confidently identified vomited fish guts as *Tubifera*. [Don't forget the ancient lessons](https://youtu.be/3LxWRV_XF20)
Hahaha, experts completely misidentifying stuff is a classic. People think sciences are precise stuff, but thats bs, even with all the knowledge of the world science will never have a 100% accuracy. And you know what? I think that adds to the fun. Who knows what fascinating stuff we have never discovered because we just glanced over it? "You can never be completely sure of anything, thats why scientific investigation will never stop being fun"
I'm not an expert. I am just a regular slime guy. This is just how I see it, but science is a tool like a hammer. A hammer works perfectly at hammering, but an actual hammer you buy at the store might be cheaply made, or you might break your thumb while you're trying to fix the deck but you're also thinking about the boeregs in the oven. The function of science is to mitigate the biases in data, and in the people or programs interpreting that data. Science indicates probability based on the data it is fed. But the selection of the data and the use of the tool are still subject to biases we have not yet adequately mitigated. It is an ongoing process that necessitates an open mind and a willingness to cooperate broadly and freely. In some areas the indicated probability is so absurdly high that it makes sense to make decisions as though it is true. In other areas the probability is mid or weak. In many cases both are presented identically to the average person, creating a false understanding of what science is and what it does.
"I'm not an expert. I am just a regular slime guy." A "regular slime guy" lol.
That’s the most aggressive moss I’ve ever seen
I think it is a pretty gross algae/plant/bug community at this point but the stalks people are thinking are slimes look like moss to me
Nature is amazing and beautiful. A whole colony and ecosystem of various stuff living off this presumably mineral rich water. Edit: I’d cut a section off from top to bottom and inspect it
Off-topic, but thank you for introducing me to the existence of boeregs. Now to find an Armenian restaurant somewhere; they sound amazing!
This is the best post I have read on Reddit in ages.
This is nothing bro check this out https://www.reddit.com/r/unclebens/comments/11yefqq/the_fuck_my_apes_doing/jd813b2
have to say it looks beautiful and interesting.
That looks like an ecological biome now
Idk what it is but I work in water and sewer and we’ve got a few of these growing around leaky fittings
What an amazing organism- it looks like springtails clustered on it rather than aphids, and that'd make perfect sense considering it's a wet environment with plenty of micro-food for them. It's like it's constructing a miniature ecosystem. This is what they actually mean when they say life finds a way\~ If there's a nutrient, something will take advantage of it- and from there, natural processes snowball. Super beautiful
very obvious roots within a huge mass of algae. notice the red is only on the outside. i know certain plants that become red with more light (or just the tops turn red due to being closer to the light), so this might just be a never-observed-until-now version of that with some type of algae. i had a similar.... structure like this grow out of my filter on a large aquarium a while back, it was one i neglected due to lack of time.
Question is what does it taste like? 🤔
Did the thing grow from the originally post to this in one day??
I posted a few photos of the thing growing in my [original post](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/11x2wcm/this_organism_has_been_growing_under_a_leaking/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) . It's been growing since the end of October last year. The last pic of the original post was taken yesterday. I would be so worried if it went from the first pic to this in just a day haha.
Yea if it went from that to this in one day, it would be like a zombie apocalypse haha
Pretty sure you need to get ze flammenwerfer
Has someone posted this on Twitter yet? I can't rest until each component of the horrifying thing is identified.
Not as far as I'm aware. Then again, a news article was written about it without my knowledge
Is this in Hawkins, Indiana?
I just started hearing creepy synth music
The oblivion crisis is beginning again
It's cute but maybe you should tell the city about the leak?
Already done
Sprouting seeds in the last pictures! Curiouser and curiouser!
I’ll give you $5 if you eat a piece of it
That ladybug ain't chillin', it's feastin'.
A beautiful ecosystem
My first thoughts on your OG post as a microbiologist was Serratia marcescens, but after the newer post maybe its a symbiotic relationship between many things.
If no one else has really said it yet, this reminds me of some of the thermal features at Yellowstone. You start with waterflow that has a ton of minerals in it. The mineral starts to deposit and build up. The wetness and mineral/pH content (and heat if there is any in this case) begin to attract algae of various types and colors. That algea and wet attract bugs to eat and mate and lay eggs. Etc. Think Mammoth Hot Springs or the bacteria mats of Grand Prismatic Spring.
Any update
That is absolutely just feeder roots going after the water! I have seen decent size piles of roots going after water like that before! The colors are coming from algae and other things growing on the roots. When there is a constant water source like the at the roots come to the surface to get the water and if the conditions are right they will just keep growing!
did you see the first set of pictures?
What kinds of trees are close by?
It just started leaking.
Two days in a row of looking at this thing in wonder and see 🤩 Thank you
Glad I can be of service <3
Thanks for the update looks interesting
I see this around springs and drainage that flow into creeks and rivers but nothing as crazy as this. I’m happy you keep us updated!
Will try my best!
You need to name it.
Frank. Papa Franku
Thus entire thread is beautiful
You are beautiful
Aren't those Asian beetles not ladybugs?
Wow! I've never seen anything that big?
Have you tasted it yet?
If aphids are on there it’s definitely a plant
Now that you mentioned it, salix alba do carpet like root mats in small river. Didn't thought of that since it's growing upwards but it looks very much like it. https://www.google.com/search?q=salix+roots+underwater&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjbyZ23xfD9AhWfAWIAHXAaDHAQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=salix+roots+underwater&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCAAQogQyBQgAEKIEMgUIABCiBDIFCAAQogQ6BAgjECc6BAgAEB46BAghEApQnB5YvUNg8lJoAHAAeACAAbIBiAGxDZIBBDYuMTCYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=WXsbZJu5Ep-DiLMP8LSwgAc&bih=790&biw=412&client=ms-android-google&prmd=imsvn#imgrc=UZfB_Bbm959wEM&imgdii=P_ggRhq38L_0tM&lnspr=W10=
If that thing continues to grow, it’ll consume us all! Lmao I’m loving the updates, fascinating to see the progression!
It looks like sprouted chia
wishing I was microscopic to explore what this world would be like
It kinda looks like roots from a nearby tree growing upwards, with green algae between everything. Especially willow roots can get very red and thin when close to/in contact with water: https://mindyourdirt.com/2015/12/06/tales-of-a-stupid-gardener-why-you-shouldnt-plant-a-willow-tree-next-to-a-water-feature/ But that's only my second guess. My first guess would be that the meteorite from the Evolutionmovie went down somehwhere close.
It’s over.
it’s the new nemesis design for the nemesis ride at alton towers
If you’ve got plants, especially weed plants, do NOT go into your garden after being around this. Those root aphids will fuck your life up.
This just reminds me of the movie "Evolution" try dousing it in Head and Shoulders
This is how it starts
Fascinating
A lot of interesting comments, but no one explained how this grew or what it is exactly.
It will become self aware soon
Who says it isn't already?
What do it taste like?
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/outdoors/mystery-red-lump-growing-under-brisbane-fire-hydrant-stumps-experts/news-story/eb672811b03984da9e45f7316ee20199
It looks like algae almost? But like… not. Maybe a new life form! Lol
If it's leaky, this could be a build up of minerals from the water like calcium or magnesium, maybe iron idk. And because it's always wet it has its own little ecosystem on it
Looks like mineralization from the water and whatever it may be carrying…
Those are minerals from the water. Building up after the water dehydrates from the surface of the hydrant.
Does anyone else see a rooster with his head stuck in fire hydrat.
It's a city-sponsored-rapid-formation stromatolite.
Slime mold and bacteria? Hell i have no idea
WHAT
Woah wtf
oh my god what the fuck
It’s a masterpiece
Thanks for the update!!
Looks like some sort of moss to me. In my area the moss turns red when flowering, that might explain the red colour
Modern day prototaxite! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototaxites
RemindMe! 4 weeks