Click on an image to enlarge
LOCATION:
Basecamp Loop
DATE FOUND:
Day 4 – 26 August 2023
On Day 4, I found these by the side of the path on a mossy decaying log.
These slime moulds were present in two forms: one was a light brown with a thin stipe, many with holes at the top presumably where spores had been released.
Others were also light brown but had white pin-mould-like protrusions emanating from them.
EDIT — 06 December 23
On further research I think that the pin-mould-like protrusions are Stilbella byssiseda.
S. byssiseda is a fungus that parasitises slime moulds [1]
Once parasitised, indentifying the host can be very difficult, but luckily I had found some clear forms — this is Cribraria argillacea.
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/0619-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-26th-08-2023-scaled-1-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/0621-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-26th-08-2023-450x339.webp)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/0624-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-26th-08-2023-scaled-1-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/0623-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-26th-08-2023-scaled-1-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/0622-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-26th-08-2023-scaled-1-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/0620-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-26th-08-2023-scaled-1-450x339.jpg)
On Day 5, I found some dark greyish blue forms.
These were all the same slime mould: starting as a dark greyish blue, stalked pin shape, then turning light brown and being covered in white protrusions.
EDIT — 13 January 2024
These blue forms are the juvenile forms of C. argillacea — if you look very closely, you can see a structure of darker ‘veins’ and a cup-like base which is also darker in colour.
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/0739-Unknown-Slimemould-Strumpshaw-Fen-03rd-09-2023-scaled-1-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/0735-Unknown-Slimemould-Strumpshaw-Fen-03rd-09-2023-scaled-1-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/0732-Unknown-Slimemould-Strumpshaw-Fen-03rd-09-2023-scaled-1-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/0731-Unknown-Slimemould-Strumpshaw-Fen-03rd-09-2023-scaled-1-450x339.jpg)
On Day 6, I found some more with clay buff “heads”, while the rest were entirely covered in white spikes.
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/0925-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-09th-09-2023-scaled-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/0926-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-09th-09-2023-scaled-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/0928-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-09th-09-2023-scaled-450x339.jpg)
On Day 7, they hadn’t changed much.
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1088-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-16th-09-2023-scaled-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1087-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-16th-09-2023-scaled-450x339.jpg)
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1085-Slimemould-species-Strumpshaw-Fen-16th-09-2023-scaled-450x339.jpg)
On Day 8, they had mostly diminished.
![](https://www.amcalenan.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1202-Unidentified-Strumpshaw-Fen-2023-scaled-450x339.jpg)
REFERENCES
[1] — bioinfo page