Walking in the woods Monday 9am this caught my eye from a distance. I walked up to take a closer look and discovered a snail with a trail of something that looked like blood. I would like to know if it is harmful.
My google search came up with "Dog Vomit Fungus". ??? I am interested in a scientific name.
Curious if this was indeed blood (harmful to the snail) or just a change in matter once the liquid from the snail touched it?
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
I think, this specimen belongs to Mycetozoa, a type of creature between fungi and animals.
Hi Allison,
I would also suggest that the yellow thing is a slime mold's fruiting body. I'm guessing at Fuligo septica, but that's just because this is one of the few names I know - more details (microscopic/chemical) would probably be needed.
I don't think the red trails are from the snail - shouldn't their blood be blueish (haemocyanin)? Could it be that the passing snail released darker/reddish spores from the slime mold's fruiting body?
I have to correct myself - the fruiting body has indeed just started to form (see pictures on linked page), so my spore hypothesis won't hold. You could try to sample the red trail substance (if still there) and/or try to establish which color this snail's blood should have (without causing unnecessary harm or distress to any animal, of course).
www.messiah.edu/Oakes/fungi_on_wood/crust%20and%20parchment/species%20pages/Fuligo%20septica.htm
I can confirm the right name: Fuligo septica. It is not a species belonging to Myxomycota any more, they are not actually fungi at all, but this kind of organism is amoeba (Amoebozoa) and the yellow amoeba is in slime molds stage on the trunk of a tree. The Finnish name is Paranvoi and para was a ghost in an ancient Finland and voi is butter according to the yellow colour, so it can be translated into Finnish: Ghost's butter. Also so that ghost has wondered in the forest and she/he has disgorged yellow heaps in the different places in the forests.
To Rudolf Ritt: Fuligo septica is a member of Myxogastridae, not fungi, not lichen, not plant, not animal. Myxogastridae and real amoebas (genus Amoeba) are belonging to Amoebozoa nowadays.
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