I’m down in the Florida Keys visiting family for the holiday and have poked around on the limited land surface in search of fleshy fungi. Developers have done a good job using as much of the available land as possible for commercial interests, but I still found a nice little state park on Marathon Key to poke around. Ironically, while we’ve finally been getting some rain in the northeast it has been drier in the Keys and subsequently mushrooms are limited.
In any case, I brought the camera I use to take close-up photos of mushrooms down here (Olympus TG-6). The camera is actually marketed for underwater photography and I figured now is as good of a time as ever to take that waterproofing for a spin. We went on a snorkel trip to Sombrero Reef earlier today and when I jumped in the water the camera didn’t break - just as advertised - so some photos from the trip are included below.
Florida Keys Fungi
Rounded Earthstar (Geastrum saccatum)
The most common of the earth stars, this was one of two mushrooms I saw growing out of the earth - all the others were on dead wood. The outer layer cracks open in a star shape to reveal the spore sac, and the spores are released through the one opening at the top of the sac.
Truncospora ochroleuca?
A small wood-decay mushroom with angular pores. They look like Porodisculus pendulus, which we get in the winter in the northeast, but iNaturalist suggested "Truncospora ochroleuca".
Wood Ear (Auricularia spp.)
This is a wild variety of the culinary mushroom you can find in hot and sour soup and other Chinese dishes. This mushroom has a cosmopolitan distribution and you can find it on all six major continents.
Hairy Hexagonia (Hexagonia hydnoides)
An older, desiccated specimen of a tropical polypore that I also found a couple years ago in Puerto Rico. They contain anti-bacterial compounds which help specimens like this one persist in the environment long after they initially fruit.
Reishi (Ganoderma spp.)
A red-shellacked Ganoderma species with a distorted cap. Those circular, yellow growths look like the mushroom is trying to grow more cap on top of the white, spore-producing fertile surface.
Sombrero Reef
Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda)
These predatory fish ambush their prey by propelling themselves at high speeds for short distances. This narrow, streamlined body is perfect for that type of hunting. I would accidentally swim into schools of them and they just ominously float and stare, not terribly comforting.
Green Moray (Gymnothorax funebris)
The green color is made by a protective layer of mucus secreted from the eel. The actual skin color of the eel is much darker.
Yellowtail Snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus)
I’ve seen this fish on restaurant menus, but it was awesome to see them in the water. They liked to hang out by the boat because they’re used to people throwing them excess bait.
Southern Stingray (Hypanus americanus)
These bottom dwellers are nocturnal hunters that use their pectoral fins to create a smooth, wave-like locomotion. This helps them elegantly navigate the sea floor and suck up crustaceans and small fish.
Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)
Nurse sharks like to hang out at the bottom of reefs or rocky outcrops during the day and hunt at night. They’re diet consists of small fish and invertebrates (mollusks, crustaceans), so they’re not particularly interested in humans. They’re conservation status is considered Vulnerable. This one was around 8 feet in length.
Atlantic Blue Tang (Acanthurus coeruleus)
These fish will act as “cleaners” and eat the algae and other little microorganisms off turtles and larger fish. They’ll also let themselves get cleaned as well by smaller fish. They are biofluorescent under UV light and light up a neon green.
Not as many mushrooms this week, but I actually think I’ll do another newsletter next week on some of the late fall mushrooms that pop up after the rains in the northeast. Then I’ll take the rest of December off to work on a couple different MM-related projects.
At this point in the night my dad is asking me if I have a name for when I’m late and have to publish on Wednesday (I do). To avoid that, and more importantly to prove him wrong, we’ll wrap it here. Have a great Thanksgiving and see you next week,
