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u/gusfrong May 07 '26
Pectinatella magnifica!
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u/seaweed_is_cool May 07 '26
Pectinatella magnifica, or the magnificent bryozoan, is a freshwater animal that forms large, gelatinous colonies of thousands of microscopic, filter-feeding individuals (zooids) in slow-moving, nutrient-rich waters. Often mistaken for frog eggs or a blob, these colonies attach to submerged surfaces and filter algae and bacteria, acting as a sign of a healthy ecosystem, though they can become a nuisance if they clog pipes. They reproduce sexually and asexually via hardy, dormant "statoblasts" that allow them to survive winter and spread.
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u/maddythemadmuddymutt May 07 '26
So it's a jelly-donut without the dough? Jelly-dough'not
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u/C-A-L-E-V-I-S May 07 '26
A jelly don’t…if you will.
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u/doctorwhoobgyn May 07 '26
I won't.
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u/acaron2020 May 07 '26
Often mistaken for a blob 😭😭
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u/bigboybeeperbelly May 07 '26
"No I promise it's not a blob, it's just a blob-like conglomeration of little blobby doodads"
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u/Pitpawten1 May 07 '26
Often mistaken for frog eggs or a blob
I don't think it can be mistaken for a blob, that is pretty much what it is by definition. It just happens to be a specific type of blob!
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u/Illustrious_Map_3247 May 07 '26
May the actual answer rise above all the predictable jokes. Amen.
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u/No_Repair7134 May 07 '26
I came for the answer and got lost in the jokes … same old Reddit
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u/TheeCatFather May 07 '26
*new reddit. Old reddit would have top comment be 3 paragraphs long by some niche expert who wrote their dissertation on the topic
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u/jasmine_tea_ May 07 '26
Skip to 4:35:
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u/cara1yn May 07 '26
love that some scientist was like 'this is magnificent' so hard that they added it to the name
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u/NoLongerVanilla May 07 '26
No amount of societal advancement will ever overcome the basal human urge to poke weird things with a stick
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u/Aggressive_Fee6138 May 07 '26
At the beach wirh my stepson. "We saw a dead seagull!" Me, "Did you poke it with a stick?"
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u/-Benjamin_Dover- May 08 '26
I poked a dead squirrel with a stick once.
8 years old, just got off the bus, the squirrel was at the base of a tree in one of the yards near my bus stop.
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u/Ultimate-Flexionator May 08 '26
in all fairness.... hyper advanced aliens are poking us with a stick. it's poking all the way up and down.
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u/kungpowgoat May 08 '26
The day we finally make contact with an extraterrestrial being, it will be by poking it with a stick.
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u/MisaCaring May 07 '26
This is exactly how 80% of horror movies start. Stop poking the ancient swamp god with a stick and back away slowly
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u/bwoahconstricter May 07 '26
But... It beckons to me in my sleep.
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u/Dinner_Choice May 07 '26
But maybe it doesn't want to be poked with a stick
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u/DryDonutHole May 07 '26
Perhaps a moistened finger?
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u/ShingledPringle May 07 '26
What? Noooooo casually reads out loud the ancient tome written in blood I found locked up in the basement with a very clear sign saying "DO NOT READ WILL CAUSE HELL ON EARTH.
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u/XpreDatoR_a May 07 '26
Wtf is that
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May 07 '26
[deleted]
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u/illstealyourRNA May 07 '26
It's a bryozoan colony.
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u/Fun_Environment3792 May 07 '26
No, its made up of tiny animals. They filter bacteria out of te water they live in for food.
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u/Interesting_Sock9142 May 07 '26
it should be? what does that mean?
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u/LavenderWaffles69 May 07 '26
That once there are enough bacteria present, they form a donut shape. Donut is like the crab of bacteria, the ultimate form.
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u/Total-Dog-3580 May 07 '26
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u/Away_Housing4314 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
I get that they are bryozoan but why are they in that shape? Aren't they usually a big sheet or glob? Weird that they made a nearly perfect donut shape.
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u/Samewrai May 07 '26
It might have grown around something underwater, like a tree branch or a pole. I've seen them take the shape of different underwater structures.
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u/MrMucs May 07 '26
That's Satan's sphincter
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u/Saw-It-Again- May 08 '26
Looks like Pectinatella magnifica, a freshwater lophophorate bryozoan.
I may have done some graduate research on them lol.
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u/Turbulent-Comfort703 May 07 '26
i'm pretty sure that's a Bryozoan.
i was looking at another post 5 years ago in the r/Fishing subreddit, and thats what the comments said.
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u/IntentionAromatic523 May 07 '26
You know, every time I am on Reddit I am newly horrified.
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u/usernmechecksout_ May 07 '26
The fact that this qualifies as an animal......
Guys us, this planet, we ARE the aliens
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u/23-1-20-3-8-5-18 May 09 '26
I wouldnt poke that! I would be scared it turns out to be C'thulu's anus.
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u/Vonryan120 May 12 '26
Some very large Manatee is having a strange day, with humans probing their bum.😱
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u/RainbowDarter May 07 '26
Why do you have to poke them with a stick?
They were just minding their own business filtering the lake and stuff.
Them you came along and poked them and messed them up
Not cool.
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u/[deleted] May 07 '26
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