RECORDS NOTEBOOK

Containing this issue: 
 
ARCHER STRIKES AGAIN! by Colin Hawes
SLIME FLUX by Neil Mahler
WATER FROGS MAKE IT TO BENTLEY by Colin Hawes

ARCHER STRIKES AGAIN

In September 2004 an unusual stinkhorn fungus Anthurus archeri appeared in the garden of Bob and Christine Feltwell in Bentley (White Admiral 59 Autumn 2004).

No fruiting bodies of A. archeri were seen in the garden in 2005. However, a large number of the typical stinkhorn fungal ‘eggs’ emerged at the beginning November 2006, this time in a different part of the garden, adjacent to several old conifer tree stumps.

When photographed in 2004 the fungal fruiting body was already beginning to decompose and the picture was not suitable for publication. In 2006 a large number of fruiting bodies that had only recently emerged from the soil and still at the ‘egg’ stage provided an opportunity to photograph the fungus as it developed. Individual ‘eggs’ emerged, developed, matured and began to decompose within 24 hours. But by photographing different fruiting bodies over a period of a week from November 3rd, a series of pictures was obtained as ‘eggs’ opened and pink, radiating ‘arms’ emerged, folding back to reveal the inner surface of blackish, mucilaginous, partly reticulate sporing tissue.

I am grateful to Bob and Christine Feltwell for contacting me as soon as the fungus appeared in their garden and for allowing me access to take the photographs, two of which are reproduced here.

Colin Hawes
3 Silver Leys, Bentley

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SLIME FLUX

At this time of year, particularly in April, naturalists doing conservation work such as heath land regeneration may come across a strange, slimy, yellow, pink and orange mass growing on the ends of recently cut birch or sycamore stumps and logs. I noticed this occurrence first in 1978 while removing birch that was invading the slowly drying out Redgrave and Lopham Fens. At the time I just assumed it was a fungal mould, but not one illustrated in any of my books. It occurred to me that the growth must be feeding on the emerging spring sap but I could not find out what the fungus is called.

Finally in May 2006 some light was thrown on the subject when an article by a team from Germany was published in The Mycologist. It is not just a fungus but a microbial mat consisting of a ‘consortium’ of microfungi and a few bacteria and called a ‘Slime Flux’.

The German team took samples from four birch stumps, grew them on agar medium in Petri dishes and isolated nine fungi (mostly yeasts) and two species of bacteria. The dominant species was the red yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous and this was a first record for Western Europe. X. dendrorhous is known only from slime fluxes whilst the other fungi are ubiquitous in soil.

X. dendrorhous is an important producer of the carotenoid pigment astaxanthin which is concentrated as it passes up the food chain, colouring orange the organisms that consume it e.g. the flesh of salmonid fish and flamingo feathers. The pigment is produced by biotechnology and fed to farmed fish. Apparently not enough research has been done to see if X. dendrorhous is present here but other red yeasts such as Fusarium species are thought to be the most likely cause of colouration in British slime fluxes.

The photograph is of a slime flux in Captain’s Wood, taken in April 2006. It was growing on recently cut Rhododendron and was the first time I had seen it on this host. The pigmentation colours are different from the German photographs so I presume the fungal consortium is not the same mix of species.

References

Weber, R.W.S. & Davoli, P.(2003).Teaching techniques for mycology: 20. Astaxanthin, a carotenoid of biotechnological importance from yeast and salmonid fish. Mycologist 17: 30-34.

Weber, R.W.S. Davoli, P.& Anke, H. (2006). Microbial consortium involving Xanthophyllomyces denrorhous on birch stumps. Mycologist 20:57-61.

Neil Mahler

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WATER FROGS MAKE IT TO BENTLEY

‘Green/Water Frogs in Suffolk’ (Trans. Suff. Nat. Soc. 42), by John Baker and Rosie Norton, has prompted me to report the appearance of green, or water frogs at Bentley, in a reservoir that forms part of Grove Farm (TM 1137).

For the past six years these frogs have been calling loudly towards the end of May and on through the summer, so loudly that not only do they keep nearby residents awake, but also can be heard at least half a mile away from their habitat.

Various attempts to identify the frogs over this period have failed, as any approach resulted in them immediately jumping and diving beneath the floating weed on which they had been resting. That is, until June 2006 when, following another failed attempt to see the frogs, this time from a borrowed canoe, I managed to belly-crawl through the undergrowth to the edge of the reservoir, where I viewed them through binoculars. Four frogs were seen lying half out of the water on top of the floating vegetation, seemingly sunbathing. Unlike our common frog Rana temporaria, these had a relatively pointed snout, a dark greenish-brown skin (possibly warty), black spots (on two of the specimens), a yellowish-green upper and lower jaw and a yellow-green vertebral stripe continuing almost to the tip of the snout and yellow-gold eyes. Not wishing to rely on memory alone, I took several digital photographs to record the frogs and to help later with identification.

Wycherley (2003) points out that ‘species of water frog are notoriously difficult to separate by casual observation in the field because of the wide range of morphological variation within each species, which may in turn give characteristics that overlap between species and hence make identification difficult’. This proved to be the case with the Bentley water frogs. Confusion reigned. The varied features seemed to point to Pool Frog Rana lessonae or Marsh Frog Rana ridibunda, but I was not at all confident that I had arrived at the correct identification.

Later the same month, whilst assisting with SNS display on ‘Green Living Day’ at Chantry Park (Ipswich), I mentioned the frogs to Duncan Sweeting, who, as promised, passed the information on to John Baker. Hence, on the evening of July 12th, John, Duncan, landowners Don and Sheila Baker, Graham Cooper (a village resident, who lives nearest the frogs’ habitat) and I visited the reservoir with the intention of trying to catch one and record it in more detail. Frogs were calling as we approached the reservoir, but their calls ceased as soon as they became aware of our presence. At the edge of the reservoir, John demonstrated the best way to catch one of the frogs, by using a rod (cane) and line (string) to dangle and jiggle a narrow, short strip of cloth (bait) above the water surface, whilst at the same time holding a deep net to catch a specimen if it jumped to take the bait.

Some two and a half hours later, we retired defeated. John’s capture method was only partially successful; frogs jumped to take the bait, but managed to avoid capture in the net. However, despite this failure, the visit was successful in that John was able to confirm the presence of water frogs at this site. He is not yet 100% sure of the species, but thinks that they are probably Marsh frogs R. ridibunda.

The origin of these water frogs is unknown. It is usually thought that recently appeared Marsh frogs in ponds and lakes in England have been introduced accidentally with fish stock (John Baker, pers.com.). However, Marsh Frogs are well established in the coastal marshes of Essex. They occur in the Colne estuary, and an individual Marsh frog has been reported near Manningtree (Baker & Norton, 2006). Marsh Frogs are well-adapted to survival in mild estuarine conditions (Wycherly, 2003), so the possibility exists that the Bentley water frogs came by travelling upstream from the marshes at Stutton Mill on the river Stour.

A positive identification of the species can be made using bioacoustics. The call characteristics of each species are quite distinct and if recorded can be converted into species-specific call oscillograms, which can be used to identify positively these and other frog species that might be present (Wycherley, 2003).

A second group-visit to this site is planned for June 2007, when further attempts will be made to capture a specimen. We also aim to record some calling frogs in order to confirm their identification and provide data that may enable Julia Wycherley to tell us more about their geographic origin.

References

Baker, J. & Norton, R. (2006). Green/Water frogs in Suffolk. Transactions of the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society 42: 37-38.

Wycherley, J. (2003). Water frogs in Britain. British Wildlife 14: 260-269.

Colin Hawes
Bentley

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