Clathrus archeri: Weird Alien-Like Eggs Hatch Into Weird Octopus Thing

Real Life Facehugger? (credit)

Today I would like to introduce you to Clathrus archeri, a weird, alien-like octopus thing, the existence of which I discovered only very recently. Let's first start with some photos, showing its evolution from egg to a facehugger xenomorph:

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What The Fuck Is This Thing? 

It may look like a creature straight from a sci-fi film or like a plant from hell or whatever.

In reality, Clathrus archeri is only a fungus endemic to Australia and New Zealand. It's commonly known as the octopus stinkhorn and devil's fingers, due to its appearance and foul smell.  Similarly to other foul-smelling fungi, the odor attracts flies which then disperse the spores and help it reproduce.

As you saw in the photos, young fungi begin as "eggs" that slowly "hatch" to form four to seven elongated tentacles. The tentacles then open and reveal the pink-red interior which is covered by the dark-olive gleba.

The egg-stage is ovoid in shape and 4 - 6 cm high by 2 - 4 cm wide. The surface is whitish and soon becomes marked with furrows which outline the arms. The endoperidium (inner layer of fruitbody wall) is greenish-brown and gelatinous. The gleba (spore-bearing tissue) is olive-brown, blackish at maturity, mucilaginous (sticky), and borne on the inner face of the arms. The receptacle has a short, hollow stem 3 - 6 cm high and 1 - 3 cm wide and is pale below and pinkish above. It has four to eight slender, pointed, chambered, pink to reddish arms each 5 - 10 cm long. These are joined at the tip at first, but soon break free, spreading and drooping. The spore mass is olive-brown. [source]
 

Here's a cool timelapse video showing this hatching process:

Apparently, the fungus has slowly started to invade Europe (first spotted in 1914), and north America where it was first spotted in California in 1982.

Can I Eat One?

In case you wonder, the plant is harmless and non-toxic for humans and you can even eat one in case of emergency! 

Chances are it tastes much like the way it smells, with some describing the smell as that of "rotting crab". The expanded eggs are even considered a delicacy in certain countries despite their gelatinous nature! 

Extra: Aseroe rubra, The Even Scarier Cousin

Think Clathrus archeri looks scary? Well, wait until I show you its cousin Aseroe rubra, another fungi belonging from the same family, Phallaceae:

Young Aseroe rubra specimen 5 cm tall (credit)

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Commonly known as the anemone stinkhorn, sea anemone fungus and starfish fungus, which are again a clear reference to the way A. rubra looks and smells. The species is endemic to Australia from southeastern Queensland through New South Wales and eastern Victoria and Tasmania.

The End

There's not much else note worthy to say about Clathrus archeri, so I will close today's post with a link to a totally unrelated study that recently came out. It turns out dogs are smarter than cats! 

 More Strange Stuff

If you enjoyed reading  this post I am sure you will love some of my previous work:

• The Jesus Christ Lizard: A Lizard That Can "Walk" On Water
• It's a Scorpion...It's a Fly...It's a Scorpionfly! (Panorpa communis)
• Hagfish Have One Of The Weirdest And Coolest Defense Mechanisms
• Weird MRI Photos, 3-Eyed Beetles, Deep Sea Creatures And Other Cool Animal Stuff
• Can You Guess What Animal Has The Biggest Penis In The World?
• Meet The World's Strangest Ants 
• The Squid With The Human-Like Teeth! (Promachoteuthis sulcus!)
• Halloween Special: A Real-Life Monster Compilation
• Alien-Like Moth With Tentacles Terrifies The Internet - But Is This Creature Real?