Mapping A Tiny World: Cannibal Fungus

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Yesterday's AM post was all about a tiny fungal mold growing on Sycamore bark. But Zygomycota and Ascomycota molds encompass a broad range of fungi growing on an even broader range of mediums.

Here we see a fairly large fungal fruiting body, relatively speaking, which has already aged quite a bit. However, in the moist chamber conditions, suddenly we can identify the filamentous hyphae of a second fungus beginning to form on the edge of the first fungus.

Over the next few days and weeks I will have to check back in on the filaments to see whether they continue to develop. One possibility is that they form into a totally different tiny sporangia. But another real possibility is that they are a result of careless cross contamination, and effectively are the same species.

However, even if they were cross contaminated, it seems likely they would be a different species based on their growth medium alone. Anecdotal reading seems to support the idea of many of these micro fungi have fairly specific growth medium preferences. Time will tell.

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