iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This photo depicts fruit bodies which have been dehisced for hours or maybe even days. There are relatively few spores still present. Below is a video of a similar species showing "the exact moment" in question (video by instagram.com/yeweijun98)

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

1 log 2 chitin enthusiasts 3 sporulators 4 kingdoms

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It's certainly IS a word no matter what woogles says, but you might want to unlearn the taxonomic concept

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It is an invalid evolutionary grouping, however

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This is not a fungus actually! Slime molds are huge unwalled mobile single cells that digest live prey internally. Fungi are immobile, walled, multicellular decomposers. Many are toxic or pathogenic. They are more closely related to animals! Both produce spores, but so do moss, kelp, myxozoa, etc

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I write music about slime molds so I have personal experience with this tension! 😅 Taxonomy is intrinsically subjective & thus malleable in grouping, naming, & describing. But the intention is always to represent evolutionary groups. IMO it is possible to stretch & reframe without discarding this

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I envy you right now. You're about to hear about some of the weirdest freaks on the tree of life for the very first time

Sorogena is a ciliate "slime mold" - when food is scarce, they aggregate into a group that transforms into a multicellular fruit body. Image from Bardele et al, 1991: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1550-7408.1991.tb04785.x

Amoebophrya is a dinozoan that infects other dinozoans. Inside the nucleus of its prey, it transforms into a multicellular worm with cilia lining an internal cavity. Then it bursts out by turning its entire body inside out and swimming away with its cilia, now facing outward. Image from Chen et al 2017: https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12489

Haplozoon is a parasite of polychaete worms with whole bunch of cells! Image from "Ultrastructure of tapeworm-like parasites in marine dinoflagellates (Haplozoon)" by Phil Angel, from 2019: https://doi.org/10.14288/1.0380869

Various multicellular Harosans. Image from a highly recommended paper: "Diversity of ‘simple’ multicellular eukaryotes: 45 independent cases and six types of multicellularity," by Łukasz Lamża, from 2023: https://doi.org/10.14288/1.0380869

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The only testable approach is evolutionary history determined by morphological & molecular data, the former being subordinate to the latter. IMO "Protista" is as useful as sorting Bacteria, Archaea, & Fungi into the Plant kingdom: more compact, historically popular, scientifically meaningless

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I am happy to discuss this forever or until you become bored, whichever happens first. I have no interest in changing your mind or your behavior, I just like to talk about this stuff. I'm happy to change my own mind or no one's mind. I argue as a process of learning

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Lets ignore prokaryotes for now Animals Fungi Plants Protista Misleading, internally inconsistent Animals Fungi Amoebozoans (slime molds) Plants Harosans (kelp) Discobans (euglenid algae) Each kingdom genetically distinct w/ has unique traits. You may rename, divide, & combine as needed

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Ah, I see. That is actually another fungus. Maybe a mucoromycete.

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Protista isn't a useful category genetically, morphologically, or ecologically. Protists aren't related and they aren't similar. Nearly all eukaryotic life is found on 6 branches, including 100% of the multicellular & macroscopic species, and these branches (or kingdoms) each have unique features

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

During the fruiting process, wolf milk pumps out water through a series of tubes. The water exits the spore mass & evaporates, leaving various oils, crystals, & pigments inside those little bumps. The shape, orientation, & contents of the bumps are specific to each species, & there are more than 50!

Lycogala aggregatum has masses of small oil droplets in its dark irregular overlapping vesicles (aka bumps or pockets) (from Leontyev et al, 2023: https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2023.2199109)

Lycogala botrydium has large oil droplets in its dark irregular overlapping pockets (Leontyev et al, 2023: from https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2023.2199109)

Lycogala caviaroides has large irregular crystals inside its distinct polygonal orange pockets (from Leontyev et al, 2023: https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2023.2199109)

Lycogala epidendrum has no oil or large crystals in its large irregular overlapping pockets. The pockets are accentuated with dried slime, & some have small needle-like crystals inside. H, J, & K are the tubes that pump out the water (from Leontyev et al, 2023: https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2023.2199109)

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

No apology is necessary, it is a widely repeated misconception. Slime molds are actually quite unlike fungi despite many people's assumptions, & less closely related to fungi than we are. In many ways slime molds are more similar to animals, & in other ways they are an entirely unique kingdom

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The yellow bits are nearly 100% calcium carbonate, & the lighter coloring may be as well

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The stalks may be visible here & would have been more obvious in person

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

It does look like Stemonitis splendens. But could it be the fungus Inonotus rickii? I've been fooled before (see pic 1 below). The easiest way to tell is to look for thin black stalks at the base (see pic 2). I can't tell for sure, looking at your photos. They are sometimes very tiny & short

Inonotus rickii by kimsr22 (iNaturalist)

Stemonitis by greenmountainparrot (reddit)

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

This article incorrectly states that slime molds consume dead plant matter. They do not. They eat live microbes (& in a few unusual cases, macro fungi). They are not decomposers.

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I'm probably making it sound more tentative than it is. Erionema is (sub)tropical, less compact, & has a stringier hypothallus. This looks like a fused mass & moisture can reduce the cortex. I have my suspicions about these 2 but given current definitions F septica flava is the reasonable ID

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Reticularia lycoperdon is traditionally foraged & eaten in Mexico. The flavor has been compared to mushroom, almond, & Oaxaca cheese

from this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.24966/FSN-1076/100025

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I think this is Fuligo septica var flava,but the cortex is pretty thin so it could be Erionema instead. They are closely related & sometimes they are difficult to tell apart. This one is mature & no longer moving around. The spore walls have formed & darkened from protective melanin

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Oh man this post is much older than I thought

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Great photo, but minor correction, this is actually a pig snout on the end of a stick

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

It's not elusive if you have mulch, lemme tell you

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

"Slime mold" is a nebulous term, but in general it refers to amoebas that aggregate into cooperative fruit bodies. The majority are found in their own kingdom, sometimes called Amoebozoa. A handful of slime molds exist outside this branch, but none that are macroscopic or mobile when aggregated

A slightly more precise tree focused on eukaryotes

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

This is a great topic! Lichens were once viewed as unique, but the data suggests all life is similarly cooperative: everything is lichens. Eukaryotes are hybrids by definition, carrying foreign genomes & structures from multiple partners. Complexity & size only exist through cooperation

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I'm not that knowledgable about fungi but I think its a jelly fungus like Tremella www.gbif.org/occurrence/s... or Protohydnum www.gbif.org/occurrence/s...

Protohydnum photo by onetrekpony (reddit)

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I'm leaning toward T montana, but it's hard to evaluate how free the tips are when it is this young. The color can change quickly, so it can be difficult to use as an indicator

Tubifera montana (photo by Natalie Clark)

All these photos are of Tubifera ferruginosa (Leontyev, 2015)

a = Tubifera ferruginosa
b = T. ferruginosa (subsp. acutissima)
c = T. montana

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I think this is a fungus actually. Did you poke it? Also protists do not really exist in the way Fungi, Animals, & Plants do; they are not united by genetics or common features. Slime molds are Amoebozoans, which have no close relation to (for example) euglenid algae (Discoba) or kelp (Harosa).

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This is not a fungus but a slime mold, & it has little in common with fungi beyond a superficial resemblance. It is a mobile hunter that digests live prey internally & forms acellular fruit bodies unique to its own kingdom. It is the only macroscopic mobile organism outside the animal kingdom

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

You can take some home & put it on a damp napkin in a tupperware. It might fruit

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

It reminds me of "star jelly," but I think it's fungi because it's attached. Slime molds change noticeably over a day & disappear quickly. They are never rigid or rubbery like a fungus; usually either dry & crispy or soft like butter. To exclude, check one 4-8 hours apart & poke it with a stick

Star jelly is slightly mysterious but the evidence suggests jelly from frog eggs, vomited by predators (photo by Lairich Rig)

Jelly fungi like this Pseudohydnum gelatinosum can look like shapeless wet jelly when first emerging

Symphytocarpus amaurochaetoides (photo by Erwin Pils). This IS a slime mold, but it is very small (millimeter scale) & within hours or a day it will transform dramatically (see the next image)

A mature Symphytocarpus amaurochaetoides (photo by Erwin Pils)

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

The fungi look intact so probably the latter. Only a few species eat mushrooms: Physarum polycephalum, P rigidum, & Physarella oblonga are yellow, Badhamia utricularis is usually more orange. Plenty of yellow slime molds don't eat mushrooms so I would be curious to see the fruit bodies

Physarum rigidum by Tal Koch (often yellow or iridescent)

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

It might be T montana. How orange was it in person?

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

This doesn't look like slime mold to me. How long has it looked like this? What is the texture? Is it attached / emerging, or is it loose from the stuff it's on?

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Beautiful composition on the photos

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Beautiful hypothallus. If you go early in the morning you may see it as a plasmodium (the video is from instagram.com/yeweijun98)

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

S longa is quite rare outside tropical areas but I have seen it once in the NE USA. It was not as spectacular as yours & I did not get as good a photo, but it was a very exciting find for me

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Reposted by regular slime guy

✦⛓️𝕷𝖔𝖗𝖊⛓️✦🔜 GATEway FATE @humonculuss.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Found a stemonitis slime mold today

Photo of a stemonitis slime that seems to have deflated.

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I need to do this kind of thing for every known species and I just haven't found the time. It's useful to have searchable references on the phone. And wow that paper is a doozy, isn't it. I need to reread it a few times. I have... feelings about some of these taxonomic decisions

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Fungi are immobile decomposers who externally digest dead matter & grow multicellular fruit bodies separate from their mycelium Slimes are mobile predators who internally digest live microorganisms & transform their entire body (the plasmodium, an unwalled single cell) into acellular fruit bodies

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regular slime guy @regularslimeguy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The slimes are unconcerned but the scientists are not always pleased

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