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Codium pomoides
On a broad sandy beach facing the Southern ocean this very firm, moist, velvety dark green ball was washed up. I have seen them before but never thought much about them. It was a bit larger than a golf ball, very slightly translucent, dense like it was full of water.
Loose on ocean beach near rocks.
Chlorophyta : Bryopsidophyceae : Bryopsidales : Codiaceae Apparently they can be up to 120mm diam. - impressive for a single cell? "Like all Codium species, this seaweed is composed of only a single cell and can repair itself if damaged. It appears fluffy underwater and feels velvet-like out of water due to hundreds of tiny hair-like filaments on its surface." - http://portphillipmarinelife.net.au/spec... http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:b...
Spotted on Mar 11, 2013
Submitted on Apr 2, 2013
12 Comments
Thanks all. I love how an ordinary thing becomes something fascinating.
weird, but fascinating!
Impressive!
wow! What Shanna said!
Wow. A single cell. Amazing.
:) Great! we solved the mystery!
Thanks again injica your Codium lead was good :-)
Thanks injica. It looks similar.
In Adriatic sea there is species called Codium bursa that looks like this...probably not yours but maybe in anyway helpful.
Thanks drP. We spotted an oyster thief just over a year ago.Fascinating creature!! I remember it as being very soft with thin fragile walls. This thing could be used for at least one game of cricket. :)
Weird...
I'm not too good on algae, but this reminds me of Colpomenia peregrina, sometimes called oyster thief. Might be a place to start.