Ocypode gaudichaudii, also known as the painted ghost crab or cart driver crab, is a species of crab found on Pacific beaches from El Salvador to Chile as well as on the Galápagos Islands. The species was first described by Henri Milne-Edwards and Hippolyte Lucas in 1843.
They are diurnal crustaceans that display a red-orange color with sandy dots across the back of the carapace.
They are described with three distinct feeding behaviors that vary based on food source and development: as deposit feeders, scavengers, and predators. In all methods of feeding, visual clues and chemosensory are used to locate potential food. Their diet includes organic matter within sand, live organisms, and dead matter from both ocean and terrestrial sources.
In Peru, this crab is the host of the acanthocephalan parasite Neoandracantha peruensis.


Metridium senile, or frilled anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Metridiidae. As a member of the genus Metridium, it is a type of plumose anemone and is found in the seas off north-western Europe and both the east and west coasts of North America.


M. senile is a predator and catches small organisms floating past in the current. Its diet largely consists of  copepods, worm larvae, mollusc larvae, ascidian larvae, amphipods and barnacle larvae. There are reports of the sea anemone itself being eaten by the sea slug Aeolidia papillosa ("shag rug nudibranch"), the sea spider, Pycnogonum littorale, wentletrap sea snails Epitonium spp., the flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus and the black bream, Spondyliosoma cantharus.
M. senile is a protandric hermaphrodite – it starts life as one sex and changes to the other when it is older. Eggs or sperm develop in the gonads embedded in the mesentery that lines the coelom. They are ejected through the mouth, and when fertilised develop into planula larvae. After one to six months drifting in the plankton, these settle and metamorphose into juveniles. By this means the plume anemone can spread to new areas some way from its origins.
The plume anemone can also increase its numbers by asexual reproduction. An individual can undergo binary fission by splitting in half and growing into two organisms. Or it can develop buds which grow into new individuals before becoming detached. Fragmentation, also known as basal laceration, is another mechanism by which the number of individuals can be increased rapidly. In an aquarium, the anemone can sometimes be seen to glide across a hard surface such as the glass wall, leaving fragments behind in the process. After a week or more, each piece can be seen to be developing a disc and tentacles and in due course grows into a new individual.
In 1856, in Torbay, England, a waterlogged board was brought to the surface by a dredger. It was found to have over 400 individuals of M. senile of varying sizes living on it. Those on one side were all white while the other side housed only individuals that were orange. The naturalist Philip Henry Gosse, writing about this, surmised that each side housed individuals resulting from the fragmentation of a single original individual that had settled on the board.
The growth rate of this species is rapid. Juveniles have been found to increase the diameter of their bases by 0.6 to 0.8 mm per day. By the age of 5 months, they have been found to reach an average basal diameter of 45 mm (2 in).


The base of Metridium senile is considerably wider than the column and is attached to rock or another substrate. The column is long, smooth and cylindrical, of a fleshy consistency with a slimy surface lubricated with mucus. There are no warts or suckers and the column is topped by a parapet and deep groove. The oral disc is broad and deeply lobed into several curving sections that overhang the column. The slender, pointed tentacles are very numerous in larger specimens though fewer and relatively longer in smaller ones. Those near the margin are crowded and short whereas further into the disc they are longer and more dispersed. The colour range of this sea anemone is large but for any one specimen the colour is uniform throughout, except for the orange-red lip surrounding the central mouth. Colours include, white, cream, pink, orange, red, grey, brown and olive-green. The tentacles are translucent but may have a white band, and some specimens have a darker column and much paler disc.
There are several distinct forms and various intermediate ones. M. senile var. dianthus is described above. It has over 1000 tentacles and exhibits a feathery appearance. It can grow to 30 cm (12 in) tall with a base diameter of 15 cm (6 in) and a similar tentacle span. M. senile var. pallidus is much smaller, seldom exceeding 2.5 cm (1 in) base diameter, and has a much less convoluted disc with fewer than 200 tentacles. It seems to be a dwarf race, becoming sexually mature while still small. There are also a number of intermediate forms.
Johannes Peter Müller has described the variety dianthus as "the most beautiful of all the anemones". It is indeed an impressive sight with the tentacles fully expanded, resembling a palm tree, but when retracted it can become a low, irregularly shaped, jelly-like disc of unattractive appearance. When exposed to the air by a retreating tide, it does not always retract but may hang under an overhang in a limp fashion looking like a wet glove with a single drop of water dangling at its tip.


Armases cinereum, also known as the squareback marsh crab or wharf crab, is a member of the genus Armases and is a species of crab in the family Sesarmidae. The wharf crab is a small crab that is dark brown to muddy in color, which allows it to blend in with its usual surroundings. It is found on the Atlantic southeastern coast, down into the Gulf of Mexico. It is an omnivore and is prevalent in marshy coastal environments along the Southwestern Atlantic.


While the wharf crab is often deemed a detritivore, it is highly omnivorous and will supplement a detritus diet with microscopic insects and invertebrates. In mangrove habitats wharf crabs are a key component as omnivores in the food chain, they serve as carnivores, herbivores, and detritivores. Some examples of what the wharf crab would eat in a Mangrove habitat include, insects, partially decomposed Avicennia (Black Mangrove), and leaves from Mangroves or other maritime vegetation. When feeding on plant matter wharf crabs will prioritze softer plants over plants with a tougher exterior. When both plant and animal food sources are readily available the wharf crab will choose the animal prey. The diet of Armases cinereum coincides directly with the environment in which it is found and what the prominent food availability is in that environment. Consequently, this diverse diet also allows the species to live at relatively high population densities across a large margin of coastal ecosystems.


Sexual dimorphism is evident in the species, as males are typically slightly larger and have a more prominent palm.  Its size ranges from 10.0 to 18.0 mm in length for mature males and 11.0 to 17.2 mm for mature females. Males have a subtriangular outline on thair abdomen with a telson that is equal in width and length, while females have a subcircular outline on their abdomen with the telson being larger in width than length.


Armases is a genus which is a part of the family Sesarmidae and the subfamily Sesarminae of Grapsidae. There are around 10 described genera within the subfamily Sesarminae.  Armases cinereum is one of 11 described species in the genus Armases. The species cinereum was originally described by Louis Bosc in 1802, and was classified under the genus Sesarma.  However, in 1992, the species was reclassified under the genus Armases by Lawrence Able.


Before about 1100 AD, the migration of birds was not known.  The Brant Goose, winters in Great Britain, but does not breed there. Lepas anserifera is called a goose barnacle because it was at that time that the birds hatched from the goose barnacles found in floating "nests" on the beach. This was how the lack of nest, eggs, and goslings was explained.


Lepas anserifera has a cosmopolitan distribution being found chiefly in temperate and tropical seas. It is normally found growing in clusters and anchored by its peduncle to driftwood and other floating objects, including whales. It is sometimes found washed up on beaches still attached to this flotsam.


Lepas anserifera is a hermaphrodite. The life cycle is complex and involves a nauplius and a cyprid larval stage during which the animal is mobile and forms part of the plankton. The larva then settles on a suitable surface before undergoing metamorphosis and becoming a sessile, pedunculate juvenile.
Lepas anserifera is a filter feeder. The feather-like cirri are repeatedly fanned out and then retracted inside the plates to create a current and draw in zooplankton and detritus for consumption.


Lepas anserifera has a shell or capitulum enclosed in six white plates supported by a tough, flexible, orange stalk or peduncle. The capitulum is about 4 centimetres (1.6 in) long and the stalk a similar length. The limy plates are thick and sculptured and are in close contact with each other. The largest plates, the pair of scuta at the stalk end, are quadrangular with longitudinal furrows and a smooth umbonal area. The pair of terga at the free end are trapezoid and more furrowed than the scutum and the carina in between are wide and forked. The tergal flaps are yellow, giving a coloured rim to the plates in the living animal. The body concealed by these plates consists of a head and thorax with a vestigial abdomen. The head bears the mouthparts consisting of a labrum with fine teeth on the inner margin, a blunt palpus, mandibles and maxillae. The thorax bears three pairs of maxillipeds and cirri with five or six pairs of long feeding appendages. The caudal appendages are curved and pointed which helps distinguish Lepas anserifera from other species.


The Pacific sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens), or West Coast sea nettle, is a common planktonic scyphozoan that lives in the eastern Pacific Ocean from Canada to Mexico.
Sea nettles have a distinctive golden-brown bell with a reddish tint. The bell can grow to be larger than one meter (three feet) in diameter in the wild, though most are less than 50 cm across. The long, spiraling, white oral arms and the 24 undulating maroon tentacles may trail behind as far as 15 feet (4.6 m). For humans, its sting is often irritating, but rarely dangerous.
Chrysaora fuscescens has proven to be very popular for display at public aquariums due to their bright colors and relatively easy maintenance. It is possible to establish polyps and culture Chrysaora in captivity. When provided appropriate aquarium conditions, the medusae do well under captive conditions.


In common with other cnidaria, Chrysaora fuscescens are carnivorous animals. They catch their prey by means of cnidocyst (or nematocyst) -laden tentacles that hang down in the water. The toxins in their nematocysts are effective against both their prey and humans, though it is typically nonlethal to the latter. Because C. fuscescens cannot chase after their prey, they must eat as they drift. By spreading out their tentacles like a large net, the sea nettle is able to catch food as it passes by. When prey brushes up against the tentacles, thousands of nematocysts are released, launching barbed stingers which release a paralyzing toxin into the quarry. The oral arms begin digestion as they transport the prey into the sea nettle’s mouth.
C. fuscescens feeds on a wide variety of zooplankton, crustaceans, salps, pelagic snails, small fish as well as their eggs and larvae, and other jellyfish. Due to their growing numbers, they seem to be reducing fish populations and have become nuisances to the fisherman of Oregon by clogging up fishing nets. Their dense swarms have also become problematic for scientific trawls and water intake.
Despite having a potent sting, Chrysaora fuscescens is prey to many marine birds and large fish.


Johann Friedrich von Brandt described this species in 1835. The origin of the genus name Chrysaora lies in Greek mythology with Chrysaor, brother of Pegasus and son of Poseidon and Medusa. Translated, Chrysaor means “he who has a golden armament.” The species name fuscescens is Latin for “dark into light.”


Phlyctenactis tuberculosa, common name the wandering sea anemone or swimming anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae. It is native to shallow seas around Australia and New Zealand. It was first described by the French zoologist Jean René Constant Quoy and the French naturalist Joseph Paul Gaimard. They were naval surgeons serving in the French Navy and made extensive collections of organisms they came across in their travels.


This anemone is covered with bubble-like sacks, and comes in a variety of colours from brownish orange, mauve, light grey to brown in colour. The tentacles are lighter, and may be pale yellow, grey, brown or orange-yellow in colour. It grows to a maximum size of 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter with a column that can reach 25 centimetres (10 in) long. During the day, it remains bundled together, appearing like a ball of baked beans.


Emerita talpoida, known generally as the Atlantic mole crab or Atlantic sand crab, is a species of mole crab in the family Hippidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Mexico along the shoreline.


Ovalipes ocellatus, known as the lady crab, is a species of crab from eastern North America. Other names for it include the leopard crab or Atlantic leopard crab due to the leopard-like rosette patterns on its shell, the calico crab (not to be confused with Hepatus epheliticus), or ocellated crab. It has a shell 3 in (7.6 cm) long and only slightly wider, which is covered in clusters of purple spots. It occurs from Canada to Georgia, and lives mainly on molluscs, such as the Atlantic surf clam.


O. ocellatus was first described by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1799, as Cancer ocellatus. In 1898, Mary Jane Rathbun moved the species to her new genus Ovalipes.


Stenopus hispidus is a shrimp-like decapod crustacean belonging to the infraorder Stenopodidea. Common names include coral banded shrimp and banded cleaner shrimp.


Stenopus hispidus has a pan-tropical distribution, extending into some temperate areas. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Canada to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico. In Australia, it is found as far south as Sydney and it also occurs around New Zealand.


Stenopus hispidus reaches a total length of 60 millimetres (2.4 in), and has striking colouration. The ground colour is transparent, but the carapace, abdomen and the large third pereiopod are all banded red and white. The antennae and other pereiopods are white. The abdomen, carapace and third pereiopods are covered in spines.
Stenopus hispidus has the ability to detect individuals of its species. This trait is uncommon in invertebrates and is most likely explained through chemical signals.


The species is mostly carnivorous. Based on examination of stomach contents, they appear to primarily feed upon amphipods, but may also eat polychaetes, gastropods, bivalves and plant material.


Palaemon affinis was first described in 1837 by Henri Milne-Edwards as Palaemon affinis and Palaemon quoianus. In 1876, P. affinis was placed in the Leander subgenus (which is a subgenus of Palaemon). In 1954, P. affinis was moved to the Palaemon subgenus and P. quoianus was recognized as a synonym for P. affinis.


Cancer irroratus (common name the Atlantic rock crab or peekytoe crab) is a crab in the genus Cancer. It is found from Iceland to South Carolina at depths up to 2,600 ft (790 m), and reaches 133 mm (5.2 in) across the carapace.


The rock crab has recently become a popular culinary item. The name "peekytoe crab" refers to the fact that the legs are "picked" (a Maine colloquialism meaning "curved inward"). Until about 1997, they were considered a nuisance species by the lobster industry because they would eat the bait from lobster traps.


Cancer irroratus has nine marginal teeth on the front edge of the carapace beside each eye, and reaches a carapace width of 5.25 inches (133 mm). These crabs are similar in color to, and overlap in size with, the Jonah crab, Cancer borealis. The two species can indeed be distinguished by the purplish-brown spots on the carapace of C. irroratus (contrasting with the yellow spots of C. borealis), and by the smooth edges to the teeth on the edge of the carapace (denticulate in C. borealis).


Echinometra mathaei, the burrowing urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Echinometridae. It occurs in shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific region. The type locality is Mauritius.


Echinometra mathaei uses its spines and teeth (part of the mouthparts known as Aristotle's lantern) to dig itself into the basaltic and calcareous rock where it lives. It emerges from these hollows at night to graze on algae. As with other sea urchins, breeding involves releasing gametes into the water column. Fertilisation is external and the echinopluteus larvae are planktonic. When these settle on the seabed, they undergo metamorphosis into juvenile sea urchins. In the Gulf of Suez, in the most northerly part of its range, it spawns in the summer and autumn but in warmer waters, breeding takes place at any time of year.
Because of its burrowing activities, Echinometra mathaei causes bioerosion of coral reefs. Its natural predators are mostly finfish but there is also some predation by brittle stars and gastropod molluscs. It has been found that in areas where heavy fishing takes place, the number of urchins is increased because their natural predators are less abundant and as a consequence, greater damage to the reef takes place.
A commensal shrimp, Athanas areteformi, lives among the spines of this sea urchin  and its appearance is mimicked by the mantis shrimp, Echinosquilla guerinii, which conceals itself in a hole in the rock with only its spiny telson visible.
Copper is having a detrimental effect to larvae at 0.02 mg/l, and adults have 48- and 96-h TL₅₀ values of 0.54 and 0.30 mg/l. Fertilization success was also reduced to 50% in 0.18 mg/L, and cleavage of the 8-cell stage as well, at 0.42 mg/l of Cu⁺⁺.


Echinometra mathaei grows to a test diameter of about 5 centimetres (2.0 in). The colour is quite variable but the test is usually a dark colour. The spines are sometimes green and purple with purple tips or entirely green with purple tips but this sea urchin can be distinguished from other species by a characteristic pale ring at the base of each spine.


Porpita porpita, or blue button, is a marine organism consisting of a colony of hydroids found in the warmer, tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Arabian Sea. It was first identified by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, under the basionym Medusa porpita. In addition, it is one of the two genera under the suborder Chondrophora, which is a group of cnidarians that also includes Velella. The chondrophores are similar to the better-known siphonophores, which includes the Portuguese man o' war, or Physalia physalis. Although it is superficially similar to a jellyfish, each apparent individual is actually a colony of hydrozoan polyps. The taxonomic class, Hydrozoa, falls under the phylum Cnidaria, which includes anemones, corals, and jellyfish, which explains their similar appearances.


The blue button is a part of the neustonic food web, which covers the organisms that inhabit the region on or near the surface of the ocean. This is because it is a passive drifter, which means that it relies on water currents and wind to carry it through the ocean.  It is preyed on by the sea slug Glaucus atlanticus (sea swallow or blue dragon), violet sea-snails of the genus Janthina, and the other blue dragon, Glaucus marginatus. Unlike Velella, which prefers a passive diet, Porpita will hunt active crustaceans like crab and fish. It competes with other drifters for food and mainly feeds on copepods and crustacean larvae.


The blue button can grow up to 30 mm in diameter and lives on the surface of the sea and consists of two main parts: the float and the hydroid colony. The hard golden brown float is round, almost flat, and about one inch wide. The float organ is responsible for the organism’s vertical movement and also contains pores that are able to communicate with other P. porpita organisms as well as its surroundings. The hydroid colony, which can range from bright blue turquoise to yellow, resembles tentacles like those of the jellyfish. Each strand has numerous branchlets, each of the knobs of stinging cells called nematocysts terminates at the distal end. The blue button has a single mouth located beneath the float, which is used for both the intake of prey and the expulsion of wastes. The mouth is surrounded by a ring of gonozooids and dactylozooids. Tentacles are only found on the dactylozooids, which exist furthest away from the mouth, towards the outer part of the hydroid colony.


Harpaphe haydeniana, commonly known as the yellow-spotted millipede, almond-scented millipede or cyanide millipede, is a species of polydesmidan ("flat-backed") millipede found in the moist forests along the Pacific coast of North America, from Southeast Alaska to California. The dark coloration with contrasting yellow-tipped keels warn of its ability to exude toxic hydrogen cyanide as a defense. Despite the various common names given the species, the coloration pattern, cyanide defense, and associated almond scent occur in other flat-backed millipedes around the world.


Harpaphe haydeniana is an important part of the forest ecosystem, breaking down leaf litter and freeing its nutrients for other organisms. It is commonly associated with redwood forests where many individuals may be found within a small area. Immature millipedes feed on humus.
Harpaphe haydeniana has few predators, due to its aposematic coloration and its ability to secrete hydrogen cyanide when threatened. This behaviour gives rise to the common names "cyanide millipede" and "almond-scented millipede" (since cyanide smells of almonds), although cyanide secretion is not unique to H. haydeniana. Nonetheless, at least one species, the ground beetle Promecognathus laevissimus, is a specialised predator of H. haydeniana.


Harpaphe haydeniana reach a length of 4–5 centimeters (1.6–2 in) when mature. The upper surface of the body is black to olive green, and is distinctively marked along the sides with patches of a yellowish colour. H. haydeniana has approximately twenty body segments, bearing a total of 30 (males) or 31 (females) pairs of legs. The difference between males and females is due to one pair of legs on the seventh segment in males being modified to form gonopods used for sperm transfer. Individuals may live for 2–3 years.


Metridium farcimen is a species of sea anemone in the family Metridiidae. It is commonly known as the giant plumose anemone or white-plumed anemone. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from Alaska down to Catalina Island, California.


Metridium farcimen is a carnivore. It captures small invertebrates, zooplankton and other food particles with the nematocysts on its tentacles and thrusts them into the mouth in the centre of its oral disc. A study released in June 2021 found that these large anemones consume land-dwelling insects and ostracods.
Large anemones have few predators but smaller specimens are eaten by the starfish, Pisaster spp., and by various nudibranchs. The starfish, Dermasterias imbricata, has been observed feeding on larger anemones in Puget Sound.
Reproduction takes place with the liberation of eggs and sperm from the gonads embedded in the body wall which are then ejected through the mouth. Fertilised eggs develop into planula larvae. After several moults, these settle and metamorphose into polyps. Metridium farcimen occurs as solitary individuals or as congregations of genetically distinct individuals and does not replicate asexually (Bucklin, 1987a). Individuals can live for many years.


Metridium farcimen is a large sea anemone, occasionally reaching a height of one metre (39 in) when fully extended. More usually it is 50 cm (20 in) or less in height but is very variable in shape. It can retract its tentacles and form a ball up to 25 cm (10 in) in diameter. The column is slender, smooth and studded with acontia. These are openings through which thread-like nematocysts from inside the body wall can protrude. There are no tubercles and the column is topped by a parapet. The oral disc is lobed and deeply convoluted at the edge and bears well over 100 fine, short, tapering tentacles. The colour is generally opaque white, but orange, salmon and brown specimens sometimes occur. Large specimens have been seen to have long, thick, fighting tentacles, used to drive away other anemones trying to settle too close. In large colonies that all emanate from one individual by cloning, individuals on the edge of the colony may have several of these fighting tentacles on their lips which they use to repel other, non-clonal anemones. Metridium farcimen might be confused with Metridium dianthus which occupies the same habitat and has a similar colour and form, but that species seldom exceeds 10 cm (4 in) in height, has fewer than 100 tentacles and has an unlobed oral disc.


Ligia exotica, also called sea roach or wharf roach, is a woodlouse-like isopod, a sea slater in the family Ligiidae. It is found in various parts of the world living on rocky coasts and harbour walls just above high water mark.


Ligia exotica is believed to be native to the coasts of Western Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Other authorities suggest it originated in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The fact that Roux gave it the specific name "exotica" when he first described the species in 1828 from near Marseilles, may indicate that it was not previously known in that locality. It has spread to many other temperate and subtropical parts of the world including the Red Sea, the eastern seaboard of the United States and Hawaii. It is thought that the spread occurred unintentionally via shipping, either in ballast or between the planks of timber ships. Its natural habitat is rocks and cliffs in the splash zone just above high water mark where it lives in damp crevices. It is also found, sometimes in large numbers, on jetties and harbour walls.


Ligia exotica is both a grazer on microalgae and diatoms and a scavenger on plant remains and detritus. In the eastern United States, where it is considered to be invasive, it seems to be the dominant invertebrate in its habitat. The impact of this on competing organisms and its contribution to the diet of predators has not been properly evaluated, however the NEMESIS database suggests it is not likely to be of much significance.
Individual Ligia exotica are either male or female. Fertilization is internal and eggs are laid in batches of about eighty in moist cracks and fissures. Females often carry their eggs around with them using specially adapted appendages. The larvae develop into juveniles which go through a number of moults before becoming adult.
Ligia exotica has a passive water transportation system through open capillaries in its legs.


Ligia exotica can grow to 4 centimetres (1.6 inches) in length, with the males being rather bigger than the females. The general colour is dark grey, sometimes with brown flecks, and the appendages are pale brown. The head has a pair of long antennae which exceed the length of the body, and two unstalked, bulging eyes. The body is flattened dorsally and has seven thoracic segments, each with a pair of legs, and six abdominal segments. The first five of these bear flat, membranous gills and the sixth bears a pair of long, forked uropods.


Armadillidium nasatum can reach lengths of up to 21 millimetres. Though similar in outwards appearance to Armadillidium vulgare in dark grey color, the main distinguishing feature is pale longitudinal stripes spanning from head to rear and rectangular-like protrusion towards the apex of the head. Like Armadillidium depressum, it does not form a complete ball when enrolled. The tail has a rounded tip with incurved sides, as opposed to most genus Armadillidium species which have a flat tail.


Aratus pisonii, commonly known as the mangrove tree crab, is a species of crab which lives in mangrove trees in tropical and subtropical parts of the Americas, from Florida to Brazil on the Atlantic coast, and from Nicaragua to Peru on the Pacific coast. It feeds mostly on the leaves of the mangroves, but is an omnivore, and prefers animal matter when possible. A. pisonii is the only species in the monotypic genus Aratus. The specific epithet pisonii commemorates the Dutch naturalist Willem Piso who travelled in Brazil in 1638 with Georg Marggraf.


The mangrove tree crab is a small species with males averaging about 2 cm (0.8 in) long and females slightly less. The large eyes are set far apart and the carapace is wider at the front than at the back. It is a mottled brown and olive colour which helps the crab to blend in with its surroundings. The legs are either brown or mottled and tufts of black hairs are near their tips. These are pointed, which aids the crab when climbing among the mangrove foliage.


In northern Brazil, breeding takes place over an extended period, but peaks in the rainy season. The female mangrove tree crab carries the fertilised eggs under her abdomen until they are ready to hatch. While they are there, she moves to the fringes of the mangrove area where conditions are better for the developing embryos and the release of the newly hatched larvae into the sea. The larvae pass through four zoeal stages and one megalopa stage as part of the plankton over the course of a month.


Hemigrapsus oregonensis is a small shore crab of the family Varunidae; it was formerly classified under the family Grapsidae. It is known under several common names, including yellow shore crab, hairy shore crab, green shore crab, mud-flat crab, and Oregon shore crab.
Despite its name, the body color of this crab can vary. Often, it has a light grey, green or yellow carapace with small blue/black spots and lighter colored legs with similar spots, but it may be red/brown with green spots. The legs with claws (chelipeds) are usually cream/white with no spots.
This species typically lives in mud flats and can be found in large numbers in the San Francisco Bay, and coastal areas of Oregon and Washington states in the United States. Its diet primarily consists of diatoms and green algae, but it will occasionally eat meat.
Although closely related, the adult H. oregonensis is smaller (3.0–3.5 cm or 1.2–1.4 in) than the purple shore crab, H. nudus. It can be distinguished from H. nudus by observing the legs and claws – the legs of H. oregonensis, but not H. nudus, are covered in many hairs called setae, while the claws of H. nudus, but not H. oregonensis, are covered in purple or red spots.


Anthothoe albocincta, or white-striped anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Sagartiidae. It is native to the coasts of Australia and New Zealand.


During high tide, this anemone is highly active, feeding on particles it captures. It is also able to defend itself by shooting stinging cells from openings located on the side of the column.
This anemone can reproduce both sexually and by cloning. In sexual reproduction, the gametes are liberated into the water column where fertilisation takes place. The fertilized egg develops into a planula larva which drifts with the plankton before settling and developing directly into another polyp. This allows for dispersal of the sea anemones over long distances.
Clonal reproduction takes place by longitudinal fission. Local populations consist of large numbers of cloned individuals with similar coloured oral discs and tentacles. Confirmation that they are clones can be gained by electrophoretic genotyping. It has been found that clones are found in agglomerations, sometimes narrowly separated from other agglomerations with the same genotype. There is no evidence that the clones are mobile through rafting.


This species grows to a maximum diameter of 30mm, varies in colour, but can usually be distinguished by its orange or green oral disc with distinct, short, white stripes on the column. It has many tentacles.


Emerita analoga, the Pacific sand crab or Pacific mole crab, is a species of small, sand-burrowing decapod crustacean found living in the sand along the temperate western coasts of North and South America. It is found on exposed sandy beaches in the swash region of the intertidal zone.


The sand crab always moves backwards when burrowing or crawling. It can also swim (backwards) and tread water using its back legs. It is a suspension feeder. It burrows backwards into the sand and faces the sea. As each wave retreats, it extends its antennae and catches floating organisms. It then retracts the antennae and scrapes the particles into its mouth. It can do this several times per wave. When it becomes uncovered by water, it coils its antennae and burrows backwards deeper into the sand. The diet is plankton, mostly consisting of dinoflagellates.
The sand crab mates in spring and summer. The female lays batches of up to 45,000 eggs each month and carries them about beneath her abdomen tucked under her telson. The eggs hatch in about four weeks. The larvae have five planktonic zoeal stages and a final megalopal stage. The zoeal stages last up to 130 days. The megalopae settle out onto sandy beaches where they moult and develop into juveniles, which mature into adults within a few weeks. The long planktonic stage means that the larvae can become widely dispersed and colonize new areas. The adults reproduce in both their first and second summers and most die in the autumn of their second year.


The sand crab occurs in North America from Alaska to Baja California and in South America, where it is found from Salaverry, Peru, southwards to around Cape Horn and into southern Argentina. The species is common on the beaches of California, but greater changes in population levels occur further north, probably as a result of variations in the coastal currents which in some years passively disperse the planktonic larval stages northwards. In Oregon, the populations seem not to be self-sustaining and recruitment is largely from larvae originating in California.
There is an established population of sand crabs on the Twin Harbors Peninsula of Washington state.
On any particular beach, the distribution of sand crabs from one part to another can vary greatly for reasons not properly understood. Females tend to be found far down the beach, whereas males and immature crabs are found at higher levels.
In Malaysia, the sand crab or locally known as Yat Yat and Ibu Remis can be found along the beaches in Kelantan during the monsoon season. The crab is a local delicacy that is usually fried with eggs or roasted on a skewer like satay.


The Pacific sand crab is a small crustacean growing up to 35 mm (1.4 in) long and 25 mm (1.0 in) wide. The female is nearly twice as large as the male and can often be identified by the orange egg mass carried under the telson. The adult is sand-coloured and well camouflaged, and has no claws or spines. It has five pairs of legs and three pairs of pleopods. Sand crabs moult periodically, so their exoskeletons may be found washed up on the beach.
The sand crab is well adapted to life in the sand, which presents an unstable substrate, and its shape is an elongated dome shape designed for fast burrowing. The eyes are on long stalks and  the antennules are also elongated so as to project above the surface of the sand. These form a tube which channels water downwards through the gills. The much longer antennae are retractable. When water is overhead, they also project above the sand surface to collect food particles. The legs and uropods have hairy margins to assist in digging and for use in collecting food and transferring it to the mouth.


The sand crab lives under the surface of the sand, moving up and down the beach according to the state of the tide. As each wave advances and retreats, the crab comes to the surface and extends its antennae to feed. This makes it vulnerable to predatory birds such as the sanderling. These birds actively patrol the part of the beach washed by incoming waves, probing the softened sand with their bills. The sand crab retreats under the sand surface as each wave goes out, maximizing its chance of being out of reach of the bird's beak. The bird maximizes its chance of feeding on sand crabs by scurrying at the edge of the surf.
Other birds that eat sand crabs include willets, godwits, surf scoters, blackbellied plovers, and curlews. The crabs are hosts to the intermediate stages of various parasitic worms, like acanthocephalans. These are passed on to predators when the predators eat the crabs, and if enough worms are ingested, they have been known to kill the predator.
The barred surfperch (Amphistichus argenteus), found off the coast of California, consumes a large number of sand crabs. Surf fishermen use the crabs for bait and commercial bait fisheries extract them from the beach. The sand crabs with soft shells that have just moulted are kept for bait, while the hard-shelled crabs are thrown back into the sea.
The sand crab has been evaluated as an indicator species for monitoring the level of domoic acid-synthesizing diatoms (Pseudo-nitzschia spp.) which sometimes cause toxic blooms off the coast of California.


Semibalanus cariosus, commonly known as the thatched barnacle, rock barnacle or horse barnacle, is a species of acorn barnacle occurring in the northern Pacific Ocean.


Native Americans such as the Quinault people of Washington State used barnacles as a food resource, the staples of the diet in spring and summer being "clams, oysters, mussels, barnacles, roots, berries and fish". The shells of Semibalanus cariosus are found in their middens.


This barnacle has six wall plates which are sculpted with vertical tube-like ribs which extend downwards onto the rock in projections rather like the edge of a thatched roof. The rostrum overlaps the wall plates and the terga form a beak when the barnacle is closed. There is a sinuous line at the junction between the tergum and the scutum. This is a large species of barnacle and can grow to a diameter of 6 cm (2.4 in), but when densely packed together, individuals may be much taller than they are wide. The wall plates are white, greenish, brownish or gray. The base of the barnacle is little calcified so that when it is broken from the rock, a membrane and some soft tissues may be left behind.


Pachygrapsus marmoratus is a species of crab, sometimes called the marbled rock crab or marbled crab, which lives in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It is dark violet brown, with yellow marbling, and with a body up to 36 millimetres (1.4 in) long. A semiterrestrial omnivore, it feeds on algae and various animals including mussels and limpets.


Porcellio spinicornis is a species of woodlouse in the family Porcellionidae. This species is widespread in Europe, and has also been introduced to North America. It has wide spiny frontal lateral lobes.


Botryllus schlosseri is a colonial ascidian tunicate.  It is commonly known as the star tunicate, but it also has several other common names, including star ascidian and golden star tunicate.  Colonies grow on slow-moving, submerged objects, plants, and animals in nearshore saltwater environments.


The native range of Botryllus schlosseri is the north eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea. Its range has spread over the last 100 years to a nearly worldwide extent. Ranging in the western Atlantic Ocean from the Bay of Fundy to North Carolina, it is regarded as an invasive species and is "the most common colonial tunicate in North America."


Individual zooids may grow to 3 millimetres (0.12 in) in size, with colonies reaching 50 millimetres (2.0 in) long .
This species can be distinguished from Botrylloides sp. by the pattern of zooid growth. B. schlosseri zooids emanate from a center in the manner of the arms of a star. Also, there usually are fewer zooids per cluster (5–8 in B. schlosseri and 10 or more in Botrylloides). There are many colors in which this species can be found, ranging from orange, blue and grey. A colony can be easily be separated from the main body to form an independent colony usually referred to as a subclone. Two colonies may also fuse together if they share common alleles for historecognition.


Evasterias troschelii is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. Its common names include the mottled star, false ochre sea star and Troschel's true star. It is found in Kamchatka and the north western coast of North America.


The mottled star is a predator and feeds largely on bivalve molluscs. With its tube feet it can exert a powerful traction on the two valves of a mollusc shell, pulling them sufficiently far apart to insert part of its stomach through the gap. It then uses digestive enzymes to break down the mollusc's tissues before sucking them out and removing its stomach from the shell. It also consumes barnacles, chitons, gastropod molluscs, tunicates and brachiopods. Some species of limpet exhibit behavioural responses to the presence of the mottled star and are able to evade it.
Petroleum hydrocarbons, such as those released as a result of the Exxon Valdez spillage, have a greater effect on the feeding and growth of the mottled star than on one of its main prey species, the mussel Mytilus edulis. Researchers surmised that pollution of the marine environment with oil might result in the domination of the mussel in the low intertidal zone of the region.


The mottled star is a large starfish with a radius of up to 28 centimetres (11 in). It has a small disc and five long narrow arms often turned up at the tip. The widest point of the arms is a little distance away from the edge of the disc. The aboral (upper or dorsal) surface of the disc is covered with a network of calcareous plates with spines about 2 mm (0.1 in) long surrounded by smaller spines and crossed and straight pedicellariae, minute pincer-like structures with two jaws. There is an irregular line of white-tipped spines running down the centre of the arms and the whole upper surface is rough to the touch. On the oral (lower or ventral) surface a long ambulacral groove stretches from the central mouth to the tip of each arm with four rows of tube feet and clumps of pedicellariae and spines on either side. The colour is very variable and includes plain or mottled shades of orange, brown, greenish-grey, bluish-grey and pale purple. The outer edges of the arms often have a contrasting coloured rim and the underside is pale brown.


The scale worm Arctonoe fragilis is often found living on the surface or in an ambulacral groove of the mottled star as a commensal. The parasitic ciliate Orchitophrya stellarum has several hosts, one of which is the mottled star. It lives among the spines on the body and arms until the starfish is ready to breed when it moves inside its host, probably entering through a gonopore. It makes its way to the gonads of the male starfish and feeds on the sperm, effectively castrating its host.
Juvenile Alaskan king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus) have been observed living as commensals on the surface of the mottled star, sheltering between its arms. Adult king crabs have been reported as attacking and eating the starfish. It is also preyed on by gulls in the intertidal zone and by the morning sunstar (Solaster dawsoni) and the sunflower seastar (Pycnopodia helianthoides).


The description of this species was first formally published in 1862 by William Stimpson under the name Asterias troschelii (Stimpson first presented the new species in a lecture at the Boston Society of Natural History in 1861). The holotype was collected in Puget sound, Washington. Only part of one arm still remains of this smallish specimen at the United States National Museum.
It was moved to the new genus Evasterias by Addison Emery Verrill in 1914, with as the type species. Verrill published five new varieties (alveolata, densa, parvispina, rudis and subnodosa) besides the nominate variety, and also published E. acanthostoma in 1914.
Alexander Michailovitsch Djakonov synonymised all of Verrill's varieties, but retained alveolata as a forma, and also made Verrill's E. acanthostoma a form of E. troschelii, leaving the species with three forms including the nominate.


Corynactis californica is a brightly colored colonial anthozoan corallimorph. Unlike the Atlantic true sea anemone, Actinia fragacea, that bears the same common name, strawberry anemone, this species is a member of the order Corallimorpharia, and is the only member found in the North American West Coast. Other common names include club-tipped anemone and strawberry corallimorpharian. The anemone can live up to at least 50 meters deep on vertical rock walls, and at the bottom of kelp forests. It is known to carpet the bottom of some areas, like Campbell River in British Columbia, and Monterey Bay in California.
The strawberry anemone grows no larger than 2.5 centimeters. The anemone can be red, pink, purple, brown, yellow, or completely white. They possess tentacles that are white or transparent with bulbous tips. The strawberry anemone resembles sea anemones in that they lack a calcareous skeleton, but are closer related to stony corals in that they lack basilar muscles. This species lacks photosynthetic symbionts.
The strawberry anemone is known to reproduce both sexually and asexually, with asexual reproduction used to cover more available ground. The anemone is known to attack other species of sea anemone and coral that they are competitive with, as to take over the areas left behind by the previous occupants. They attack with toxins passed through prolonged contact. The same method is used in self-defense and in food consumption.


Oniscus asellus, the common woodlouse, is one of the largest and most common species of woodlouse in the British Isles and Western and Northern Europe, growing to lengths of 16 mm and widths of 6 mm.


The common woodlouse is one of the largest native woodlice in Britain, at up to 16 mm (0.63 in) long. It is relatively flat, and is a shiny brown/grey in colour, although juveniles are rougher.
Pale patches are often visible on the back of Oniscus asellus; these are areas that store calcium, which is then used to reinforce the exoskeleton after a moult. Moulting occurs in two halves, with the rear half moulting before the front half. The exuvia (the thing that is being moulted) is often consumed by the animal after moulting.


Epiactis prolifera, the brooding, proliferating or small green anemone, is a species of marine invertebrate in the family Actiniidae. It is found in the north-eastern Pacific. It has a feature rare among animals in that all individuals start life as females but develop testes later in their lives to become hermaphrodites.


Epiactis prolifera is a protogynic hermaphrodite. The young all start life as females but when the pedal disc is about two centimetres in diameter, they develop testes on the mesentery and spend the rest of their lives as hermaphrodites. This means that the population consists of a large number of young females and a small number of older hermaphrodites. Reproduction is not limited to any particular season. Sperm is released into the water column and after cross-fertilisation (or sometimes self-fertilisation), the young remain within the mother's gastrovascular cavity during their early development. The mother then expels a mass of eggs and mucus through her mouth and they spread across her oral disc. Cilia move some of them down the column and they become attached to the base of the column with mucus, and perhaps also nematocysts. The larvae develop tentacles of their own and grow in this protective environment for at least three months. When they reach about four millimetres in diameter, they separate from their mother and move away to live independently.
If the anemone is damaged and broken in pieces, the various fragments are each able to grow into a new individual.
The diet consists of small fish, shrimps, crabs and jellyfish. The prey is immobilised by the nematocysts in the tentacles which inject toxins, then passed by the tentacles through the mouth and into the gastrovascular cavity. Any undigested remains are expelled through the mouth.


The brooding anemone grows to three centimetres high and up to five centimetres in diameter and varies in colour, usually being greenish-brown but sometimes brown, pink, red or dull green. There are fine white lines starting at the mouth and spreading radially across the oral disc and further white lines occur on the column and pedal disc. The lower part of the column and pedal disc are occasionally blue. There are often radiating pale and dark lines on the edges of the pedal disc and the lower part of the column. The mouth is surrounded by 48 to 96 short, conical tentacles each tipped with a terminal pore.


Despite their stinging nematocysts, brooding anemones are a favoured prey for certain other animals. Many nudibranchs seem to be immune to the toxin and both eat them and can store the unused nematocysts for their own defence. Predators include the nudibranch Aeolidia papillosa, the leather star Dermasterias imbricata and certain fish.
This anemone sometimes displays mutualism by attaching itself to a hermit crab or decorator crab. The anemone provides protection for the host from predators and itself benefits by being able to consume food fragments discarded by the crab.
The copepod, Doridicola sunnivae, is an ectoparasite of the brooding anemone.


The red rock crab, Guinusia chabrus, is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Plagusiidae. It is found in the southern Indian and southern Pacific Oceans, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile.


Pugettia producta, known as the northern kelp crab or shield-backed kelp crab, is a species of crab in the family Epialtidae.


Found along the Pacific Coast of North America from southern Alaska to northern Mexico.


Northern kelp crabs are known for their association with kelp and their similar coloration. Their long many-jointed legs have evolved to help them climb bull kelp and also provide help climbing man-made pilings. These crabs are also common in lower intertidal zones in beds of algae or eelgrass. They may also be found under rocks or shelters at extreme low tides within the intertidal zones.
Northern kelp crabs are herbivores with seasonal preferences. In the summer months when algae is prevalent, they eat nearly exclusively algae. They eat kelp, rockweed, sargassum and some types of red algae. Whereas in the winter, they are more carnivorous, eating small mussels, barnacles, bryozoans, and hydroids. This seasonal adaptation is an evolutionary advantage when preferred food is scarce.
The northern kelp crab can be differentiated from similar species like the decorator crabs by its two rows of hooked setae right behind its rostrum. The northern kelp crab sometimes attaches bits of kelp and seaweed to these hooked setae to store as food for later. The northern kelp crab does not decorate its carapace as other majid crabs do.


Northern kelp crabs are not attractive for human consumption. They are difficult to purposely catch and bear very little meat.  Their chelipeds are large and adept. They have an aggressively strong pinch.


Male crabs tend to be slightly larger than female crab at about 93mm (4 in) across the carapace. Females tend to be 7.8 cm (~3in). Female crabs exhibit a broader back and smaller chelipeds than males.


Adult crabs migrate to waters as deep as 75m to mate. They join together, feed, then mate. Females may carry eggs during most parts of the year but are rarely seen in the south Puget Sound in May, September, and October. These clutches may be from 34,000 to 84,000 eggs. Eggs change color as they age. They begin bright orange, change to red as they mature and hatch when they are a gray-ish purple color. This maturating and development may take anywhere from a month to nearly a year.
This crab has a terminal molt which may end up covered with barnacles, limpits or bits of algae.


Northern kelp crabs are predated by a few different animals in different stages of life. Adults are frequently eaten by cabezon, gulls, sea otters and staghorn sculpins. Sea otters are significant predators for the northern kelp crab within kelp forests. As pelagic larvae (zoeae) they are eaten by velella velella or the by-the-wind sailor.
The northern kelp crab can be parasitized by heterosaccus californicus (rhizocephalan sacculinid barnacle) that exhibits as a brown mass extending from the crab's underbelly. Once the crab has been parasitized, it will only molt one more time. During this molt the barnacle then pushes its reproductive sac through the crabs molt-softened carapace. This damages or destroys the crabs male reproductive organs and which leads males to exhibit some female characteristics. These parasite-damaged males may become hermaphroditic and produce both eggs and sperm. Parasite-damaged females may have a faster development of mature characteristics.


Mellita quinquiesperforata (Leske, 1778) is a tropical species of sand dollar, a flat, round marine animal related to sea urchins, starfish, and other echinoderms. They can be found along the eastern coast of the United States and the coast of Brazil.


Cucumaria miniata is commonly known as the orange sea cucumber or red sea cucumber due to its striking color.  This northeast Pacific species is often found wedged in between rocks or crevices at the coast or on docks and can generally be identified by its orange bushy tentacles protruding above the substrate.


Cucumaria miniata are suspension feeders. They use their bushy tentacles to capture detritus and plankton from the water column. They then pull the tentacle via the feeding arm into the mouth to remove the food.  Small tentacles around the mouth also help prevent food from escaping.  Their feeding greatly decreases between November and March, when there is less plankton available.


They can grow to 25 cm long with tentacles extended and can reach a diameter of 8 cm.  The tentacles can reach a diameter of 15 cm.


Hypomyces lactifluorum, the lobster mushroom, contrary to its common name, is not a mushroom, but rather a parasitic ascomycete fungus that grows on certain species of mushrooms, turning them a reddish orange color that resembles the outer shell of a cooked lobster.  H. lactifluorum specifically attacks members of the genera Lactarius and Lactifluus (milk-caps), and Russula (brittlegills), such as Russula brevipes and Lactifluus piperatus in North America. At maturity, H. lactifluorum thoroughly covers its host, rendering it unidentifiable. Lobster mushrooms are widely eaten and enjoyed fresh. They are commercially marketed and sometimes found in grocery stores; they have been made available at markets in Oregon. They have a seafood-like flavor and a firm, dense texture.
A study from Quebec found that the infected lobster mushroom mostly contains the DNA of the parasitic fungus with only trace amounts of Russula brevipes DNA. This study also measured intermediate products of chemical reactions, or metabolites, in infected and non-infected mushrooms. Metabolites help determine how fungi look and taste, and whether they are fit to eat. They found that through the course of its infection, the parasitic fungus completely alters the diversity and amount of metabolites in Russula brevipes.
While edible, field guides note the hypothetical possibility that H. lactifluorum could parasitize a toxic host and that individuals should avoid consuming lobster mushrooms with unknown hosts, although no instances of toxicity have been recorded.  During the course of infection, the chemicals get converted into other more flavorful compounds, making lobster mushrooms more edible. Lactarius piperatus has a spicy, hot flavor but that flavor is counteracted by the parasite H. lactifluorum, making it more edible and delicious. One author notes that he has personally never experienced any trouble from consuming them and another notes that there have been no reports of poisoning in hundreds of years of consumption. White, pink and yellow molds could be toxic lookalike species.
Similar species include Hypomyces cervinigenus, H. chrysospermus, and H. luteovirens.


Pleurotus ostreatus, the oyster mushroom, oyster fungus, or hiratake, is a common edible mushroom. It was first cultivated in Germany as a subsistence measure during World War I and is now grown commercially around the world for food. It is related to the similarly cultivated king oyster mushroom. Oyster mushrooms can also be used industrially for mycoremediation purposes.
The oyster mushroom is one of the more commonly sought wild mushrooms, though it can also be cultivated on straw and other media. It has the bittersweet aroma of benzaldehyde (which is also characteristic of bitter almonds).


The oyster mushroom is a choice edible, and is a delicacy in Japanese, Korean and Chinese cuisine. It is frequently served on its own, in soups, stuffed, or in stir-fry recipes with soy sauce. Oyster mushrooms may be used in sauces, such as oyster sauce. The mushroom's taste has been described as mild with a slight odor similar to anise. Oyster mushrooms are used in the Czech and Slovak contemporary cuisine in soups and stews in a similar fashion to meat. The oyster mushroom is best when picked young; as the mushroom ages, the flesh becomes tough and the flavor becomes acrid and unpleasant.
Some toxic Lentinellus species are similar in appearance, but have gills with jagged edges and finely haired caps.


The mushroom has a broad, fan or oyster-shaped cap spanning 2–30 cm (3⁄4–11+3⁄4 in); natural specimens range from white to gray or tan to dark-brown; the margin is inrolled when young, and is smooth and often somewhat lobed or wavy. The flesh is white, firm, and varies in thickness due to stipe arrangement. The gills of the mushroom are white to cream, and descend on the stalk if present. If so, the stipe is off-center with a lateral attachment to wood. The spore print of the mushroom is white to lilac-gray, and best viewed on dark background.
The mushroom's stipe is often absent. When present, it is short and thick.
Omphalotus nidiformis is a toxic lookalike found in Australia and Japan. In North America, Omphalotus olivascens, the western jack-o'-lantern mushroom and Clitocybe dealbata, the ivory funnel mushroom, both bear a resemblance to Pleurotus ostreatus. Both Omphalotus olivascens and Clitocybe dealbata contain muscarine and are toxic.


The cap is 1–5 cm wide and kidney shaped. The cap is white when it is young and when it gets older, it turns ochre. The flesh of the cap is white and flabby, and can be broken easily. It has brown fibrils and scales which wear away, leaving a smooth surface. The upper layer of the cap is elastic and can be stretched slightly at the margin. The gills are pale brown and soft. The spores are elliptical and smooth, producing a brown spore print. The stalk is rudimentary or lacking. Crepidotus crocophyllus looks similar to this species and is sometimes confused with it. The species resemble a globe in moist weather. The species has a relative large size compared to other species in the genus Crepidotus. The fungus Hypomyces tremellicola is a parasite that deforms this species' cap.
The species is reportedly inedible, and too small to consider worthwhile. Since very little is known about the edibility of the mushrooms in the genus Crepidotus, none should be eaten.


The species grows in groups or overlapping tiers on hardwood. The hardwood includes tree trunks, fallen branches, and sawdust. Rarely, the species grows on coniferous trees. The species is widely distributed and very common. The months that the species can commonly be found in are from July to September. The species can be found in temperate zones of North America, South America, and The British Isles. It can also be found in Europe during spring, summer, and autumn.


Myxarium nucleatum forms scattered, pustular, gelatinous fruit bodies 0.2 to 1 cm (0.1 to 0.4 in) in diameter. These often coalesce, forming compound fruit bodies that may be irregularly cerebriform (brain-like) and up to 6 cm (2.5 in) across. Fruit bodies are hyaline (colourless) to whitish, occasionally with lilac or pinkish tints. Opaque, white, spherical, mineral inclusions are often evident and are made of calcium oxalate. The spore-bearing surface (hymenium) is smooth. With age, the fruit bodies may become brownish and eventually dry to a thin, varnish-like film. The spore print is white. The fungus does not have any distinct taste or smell; it is of unknown edibility.


Fruit bodies of Exidia thuretiana are similarly coloured, but are typically more opaque and often appear pleated. They do not (or very rarely) contain white, granular inclusions. Microscopically, E. thuretiana can be distinguished by its sessile (not stalked) basidia. Fruit bodies of several gelatinous Tremella species may also appear similar, but never contain granular inclusions. All can be distinguished microscopically by their non-allantoid spores.


Although the species is not poisonous, the mushrooms are small and bitter tasting with no value as edibles. David Arora suggests that the mushroom is a small morsel that is hardly worth eating. Despite many authors calling the mushroom inedible, author  Bill Russell knows people that eat the mushroom frequently.


Xeromphalina campanelloides is distinguishable via microscopic features. Xeromphalina kauffmanii resembles the species, but has a more yellow cap and grows on decaying wood of broad-leaved trees. Xeromphalina brunneola also resembles the species, but has smaller, narrowly elliptical spores, and differs in odor, taste, and cap color. Xeromphalina cauticinalis, X. cornui, and X. fulvipes are also similar.


Mycena pura contains the chemical puraquinonic acid, a sesquiterpene. This compound induces mammalian cells (specifically, the cell line HL60) to differentiate into granulocyte- or macrophage-like cells. The fungus also contains the mycotoxin muscarine, and the antifungal metabolite strobilurin D, the latter previously found in Cyphellopsis anomala. Despite the presence of these toxins, some guides list M. pura as edible.


The cap ranges from 1.5–5 cm (0.5–2 in). The stalk is 2–7 cm (0.79–2.76 in) tall and 3–7 mm wide. The spores are white.
Similar species include Clitocybe nuda, Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis, and Mycena purpureofusca.


The cap is hoof-shaped or triangular, and sometimes shelflike. It is hard and tough, and up to 30 cm or more across and 15 cm thick. Its surface is more or less smooth, at first orange-yellow with a white margin, later dark reddish to brown and then frequently with an orange margin. The pore surface is pale yellow to leather-brown, 3–4 pores per mm. It grows as thick shelves on live and dead coniferous or (less commonly) deciduous trees. The spores are pale yellow and smooth. The species also grows as a layer of tubes on the bottom of fallen wood.
The fruiting body of Fomitopsis pinicola is called the conk. It is a woody, pileate fruiting body with pores lined with basidia on its underside. As in other polypores, the fruiting body is perennial with a new layer of pores produced each year on the bottom of the old pores. The pores are whitish when young and become somewhat brownish in age. This mushroom is inedible due to its woody texture, but it is useful as tinder.
There is currently a splitting of F. pinicola occurring to isolate distinct species that have all previously been classified as F. pinicola. DNA analysis supports splitting F. pinicola into three groups- F. pinicola, F. mounceae, and F. schrenkii. Fomitopsis pinicola is found in Europe and Asia, Fomitopsis mounceae is on the east coast of the US, west coast of the US and midwestern US, and F. schrenkii is found at higher elevations in the latitude of the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to central Mexico.


Laetiporus conifericola is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae. It is found in western North America ranging from California to Alaska, where it grows as a plant pathogen on conifer trees, particularly fir, spruce, and hemlock. Fruit bodies of the fungus comprise overlapping pore-bearing plates, measuring collectively up to 60 cm (24 in) across, and up to 4 cm (2 in) thick. Their color ranges from bright orange to salmon orange on the upper surface of the cap and stipe, with a yellow pore surface on the cap underside. Spores are egg-shaped, smooth, hyaline (translucent), and measure 6.5–8.0 by 4.0–5.0 μm. The species has a pleasant odour when fresh.
The species was described as new to science in 2001 by mycologists Harold H. Burdsall and Mark T. Banik. The type collection was made in Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, in October 1999. L. conifericola is distinguished from other Laetiporus species by its growth on conifers. Until its confirmation as a distinct species, it was frequently misidentified as the eastern North American species L. sulphureus, which grows on hardwoods. L. gilbertsonii is also similar. L. conifericola is generally considered edible, but some people have reported having gastrointestinal upset after consuming the fungus. Young specimens with soft flesh or the fresh margins of older fruit bodies are best for eating, and thorough cooking is recommended.


Cladonia stellaris or the star-tipped cup lichen is an ecologically important species of cup lichen that forms continuous mats over large areas of the ground in boreal and arctic regions around the circumpolar north.  The species is a preferred food source of reindeer and caribou during the winter months, and it has an important role in regulating nutrient cycling and soil microbiological communities.  Like many other lichens, Cladonia stellaris is used by humans directly for its chemical properties, as many of the secondary metabolites are antimicrobial (e.g., Usnic acid), but it also has the unique distinction of being harvested and sold as 'fake trees' for model train displays. It is also used as a sound absorber in interior design.
Cladonia stellaris is described as mat-forming and fruticose (shrub-like) in appearance, and as terrestrial, terricolous, or epigeic, because it grows on the surface of bare soil or gravel.  Like most other lichens, Cladonia stellaris grows slowly, averaging less than 0.5 cm per year under good conditions.
This species differs from the similar Cladonia rangiferina and Cladonia arbuscula in that it forms much more distinct cushion-shaped patches, and appears to have denser branching when viewed from above.


Amanita fulva is one of the few good edible species in the genus Amanita. Though this particular species is considered edible, it must be identified with care as other members of the genus Amanita are poisonous and some are deadly. For this reason, consuming A. fulva can be dangerous and is not recommended. Some authors indicate the fungus is potentially toxic when raw, and is suitable for consumption only when cooked.


Amanita fulva, distributed throughout Europe, occurs in a variety of forests. It is generally found with oak (Quercus), birch (Betula), spruce (Picea), pine (Pinus), chestnut (Castanea) and alder (Alnus), with which it forms mycorrhizae. It is often found with birch in Scandinavia, while collections from southern Europe are usually from forests of oak, chestnut and pine. It grows in acidic soils and fruits from summer to late autumn (May to November in the UK). It is a common to scarce fungus, and is very common in Britain.
Amanita fulva is considered to be widely distributed in North America in deciduous and coniferous forests, although collections could possibly be of a different, yet undescribed species. In addition, the name Amanita fulva has in the past been misapplied to other North American taxa, such as A. amerifulva and others.


The cap is orange-brown, paler towards the margin, and darker (even very dark brown) in the center, up to 10 cm in diameter. It develops an umbo when expanded, and has a strongly striated margin. Its surface is smooth, slightly sticky and slippery when moist and glistens; later it may dry. The gills are free, close, and broad. The flesh is white to cream. The stem or stipe is white and smooth or powdery, sometimes tinged with orange-brown and with very fine hairs. It is slender, ringless, hollow and quite fragile, tapering towards the top; up to 15 cm tall and 1–1.5 cm in thickness. The universal veil which initially encapsulates the fruiting body is torn and develops into a white, sack-like volva with characteristic rusty-brown blemishes. The cap is usually free of volval remnants. Infrequently, roughly polygonal pieces of the veil may remain on the surface. The spores are white, 9 × 12 μm or (9.0-) 10.0 - 12.5 (-19.3) x (8.2-) 9.3 - 12.0 (-15.5) μm in size, globose; nonamyloid.


Mycena acicula, commonly known as the orange bonnet, or the coral spring Mycena, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. It is found in Asia, the Caribbean, North America and Europe. The fruit bodies, or mushrooms, of the fungus grow on dead twigs and other woody debris of forest floors, especially along streams and other wet places. They have small orange-red caps, up to 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter, held by slender yellowish stems up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long. The gills are pale yellow with a whitish edge. Several other Mycena species look similar, but may be distinguished by differences in size and/or microscopic characteristics. M. acicula is considered inedible because of its small size.


Gliophorus psittacinus is generally considered edible, but not worthwhile due to its small size and sliminess. Consumption of over 20 specimens in one sitting can cause gastrointestinal disorders.


Gliophorus psittacinus is widely distributed in grasslands in western Europe, United Kingdom, Iceland, Greenland, the Americas, South Africa, Japan, being found in late summer and autumn. In Europe it is apparently in decline due to the degradation of habitats. Early Australian records of this form have been found to be the similar green toadstools Gliophorus graminicolor or G. viridis on reexamination. Gliophorus psittacinus is known to occur at one site in the Lane Cove River valley near Sydney.


The parrot toadstool is a small mushroom, with a convex to umbonate cap up to 4 centimetres (1.6 in) in diameter, which is green when young and later yellowish or even pinkish tinged. The stipe, measuring 2–8 cm (0.8–3.1 in) in length and 3–5 mm in width, is green to greenish yellow. The broad adnate gills are greenish with yellow edges and spore print white. The green colouring persists at the stem apex even in old specimens. The spores are white, elliptical, smooth and inamyloid.
Its odour and taste are mild. There are no known chemical tests.
It fruits late summer to autumn (September to November).


Xylobolus frustulatus, commonly known as the ceramic fungus or ceramic parchment, is an inedible species of crust fungus in the Stereaceae family. The fruit body forms small, hard, flat crust-like aggregations that resemble broken pieces of ceramic tile. These pieces are initially whitish before turning yellow-brown to gray-brown in age. The spore-bearing cells cover the upper surfaces of the fruit body. A saprobic species, it grows on well-decayed oak wood in Asia, northern Europe, and North America.


The fruit body, or crust, of Xylobolus frustulatus has a woody texture and is perennial. It is mostly 1–2 mm thick, although it can be considerably thicker. The crust is frustose (cracking into small, angular polygons), and infrequently curled at the edges. The upper surface is zonate (appearing to have multiple zones of color or texture), and more or less smooth. The hymenial surface is smooth to the naked eye, although long soft hairs can be seen when viewed with a microscope. These 'hairs' are protruding acanthocystidia (cystidia bearing a few projections near the tip) and hyphae. Young layers are pale ochraceous, while older ones dull to deep brown. The fungus is inedible, and lacks any distinctive taste or odor.
The hyphal system is monomitic, meaning that there are only generative hyphae (relatively undifferentiated hyphae that can develop reproductive structures) are present. These vertically arranged, short-celled hyphae form transitions to acanthocystidia, and have a diameter of about 3.5–5 μm. They are sparsely branched, and hyaline (translucent) to yellowish-brown, although those in older layers may be more strongly pigmented. Other hyphae (such as in the trama) are few or absent, although they can be most readily observed in very thin sections. Measuring 3–5 μm wide, they are vertically arranged, thin to moderately thick-walled, and form transitions to pseudocystidia. All of the hyphae of X. frustulatus lack clamp connections.
Pseudocystidia (sterile structures arising deep in the subhymenium and protruding into the hymenium) are rare. Thin to moderately thick-walled, they rarely project above the basidia and acanthocystidia. The acanthocystidia are numerous, and have dimensions of 25–30 μm long by 4–5 μm wide. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are shaped like long clubs, four-spored, and measure 25–30 by 4–5 μm. They are smooth or have a few basal protuberances (acanthobasidia). The spores are short-ellipsoid in shape, thin-walled or with a slight wall thickening, smooth, typically measuring 4.5–5 by 3–3.2 μm. They have a distinct amyloid reaction.


The scarlet hood is edible, but of fairly little interest. It should not be confused with the inedible H. punicea.


A small waxcap with an initially bell-shaped, and later flattening, cap 2–5 cm (¾–2 in) across, scarlet in colour and slimy in texture. The adnate gills are thick and widely spaced, yellow red in colour. The spore print is white. The ringless stipe is up 2–5 cm (¾–2 in) high and 0.3–1 cm (⅛–⅓ in) wide, red with a yellowish base. The flesh is yellowish-red and the smell and taste faint. The oval spores measure 7–9.5 x 4–5 μm.


Aseroe rubra, commonly known as the anemone stinkhorn, sea anemone fungus and starfish fungus, is a common and widespread basidiomycete fungus recognizable for its foul odour of carrion and its sea anemone shape when mature. Found in gardens on mulch and in grassy areas, it resembles a red star-shaped structure covered in brownish slime on a white stalk. It attracts flies, which spread its spores.


Aseroe rubra begins as a partly buried whitish egg-shaped structure 3 cm (1+1⁄4 in) in diameter, which bursts open as a hollow white stalk with reddish arms erupts and grows to a height of 10 cm (3.9 in). It matures into a reddish star-shaped structure with six to ten arms up to 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long radiating from the central area. These arms are bifid (deeply divided into two limbs). The top of the fungus is covered with dark olive-brown slime or gleba, which smells of rotting meat. There is a cup-shaped volva at the base that is the remnants of the original egg.


Although edible and choice, this mushroom is not commercially cultivated on account of its fast maturing and short shelf-life.
Culinary uses of the meadow mushroom include eating it sauteed or fried, in sauces, or even sliced raw and included in salads. In flavor and texture, this mushroom is similar to the white button mushroom available in grocery stores in most Western countries. Among the similar species mentioned above, there have been cases (in fact the most common cause of fatal fungus poisoning in France) where the deadly toxic destroying angel (Amanita virosa) has been consumed by individuals who mistook it for this species. The edibility of specimens collected from lawns is uncertain because of possible contamination with pesticides or other chemicals.
It is nearly identical (except microscopically) to the edible species Agaricus andrewii and A. solidipes.


Research into fungal dressings for the treatment of ulcers, and bed sores, using fungal mycelial filaments, is ongoing. In the past, slices of A. campestris were applied to scalds and burns in parts of Scotland.


Agaricus campestris is found in fields and grassy areas after rain from late summer onwards worldwide. It is often found on lawns in suburban areas. Appearing in small groups, in fairy rings, or solitary. Owing to the demise of horse-drawn vehicles, and the subsequent decrease in the number of horses on pasture, the old "white outs" of years gone by are becoming rare events. This species is rarely found in woodland.
The mushroom has been reported from Asia, Europe, northern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and North America.


The cap is white, may have fine scales, and is 3 to 12 centimetres (1+1⁄8 to 4+3⁄4 in) in diameter; it is first hemispherical in shape before flattening out with maturity. The gills are initially pink, then red-brown and finally a dark brown, as is the spore print. The stipe is 3 to 10 cm (1+1⁄8 to 3+7⁄8 in) tall, 1–2 cm wide, predominantly white and bears a single thin ring. The taste is mild. The white flesh bruises a dingy reddish brown, as opposed to yellow in the poisonous Agaricus xanthodermus and similar species. The thick-walled, dark brown, elliptical spores measure 5.5–8 μm by 4–5 μm. Cheilocystidia are absent.


Several species may be confused with Agaricus campestris. The most dangerous confusion may be with Amanita virosa, which is morbidly toxic, or with the deadly Amanita hygroscopica or 'Pink-Gilled Destroying Angel'. A less serious, but more common, confusion is with A. xanthodermus ("the yellow stainer"), which causes gastrointestinal problems in many people. In the US, it may be confused with the poisonous Agaricus californicus or Agaricus hondensis.
Agaricus arvensis, the horse mushroom, is another similar mushroom, and an excellent edible. White Clitocybe species that also grow on lawns, and in grassy places may be dangerous to eat.


Chlorophyllum molybdites grows in lawns and parks across eastern North America and California, as well as temperate and subtropical regions around the world. Fruiting bodies generally appear after summer and autumn rains. It appears to have spread to other countries, with reports from Scotland, Australia, and Cyprus.


It is an imposing mushroom with a pileus (cap) ranging from 8 to 30 cm in diameter, hemispherical and with a flattened top. The cap is whitish in colour with coarse brownish scales. The gills are free and white, usually turning dark and green with maturity. It has a rare green spore print. The stipe ranges from 5 to 30 cm tall and bears a double-edged ring. This mushroom lacks the snakeskin pattern that is generally present on the parasol mushroom.


Chlorophyllum molybdites is the most frequently eaten poisonous mushroom in North America. The symptoms are predominantly gastrointestinal in nature, with vomiting, diarrhea and colic, often severe, occurring 1–3 hours after consumption. Although these poisonings can be severe, particularly in children, none have yet resulted in death.

Professor James Kimbrough writes:
Chlorophyllum molybdites, the green-spored Morgan's Lepiota, is responsible for the greatest number of cases of mushroom poisonings in North America, and in Florida. This is probably due to the fact that it is easily confused with choice edible species such as Lepiota procera and L. rhacodes, and it is one of the most common mushrooms found on lawns and pastures throughout the country, with the exception of the Pacific Northwest. When eaten raw C. molybdites produce severe symptoms, including bloody stools, within a couple of hours. When cooked well, or parboiled and decanting the liquid before cooking, others eat and enjoy it. Eilers and Nelso (1974) found a heat-labile, high molecular weight protein which showed an adverse effect when given by intraperitoneal injection into laboratory animals.


Phellinus robiniae, commonly called the cracked cap polypore or Phellinus rimosus, is a fungus of the family of Hymenochaetaceae. The fungus primarily infests black locusts, aided by openings caused by Megacyllene robiniae infestation, but also grows on various other trees such as Carya, oak, and Acacia. Cracked cap polypore is sympatric with most of its hosts. It has a brown spore print, leaving brown streaks on the tree below the fungus.


Scleroderma citrinum, commonly known as the common earthball, pigskin poison puffball, or common earth ball, is the most common species of earthball in the UK and occurs widely in woods, heathland and in short grass from autumn to winter.
Scleroderma citrinum has two synonyms, Scleroderma aurantium (Vaill.) and Scleroderma vulgare Horn.
Earthballs are superficially similar to, and considered look-alikes of, the edible puffball (particularly Apioperdon pyriforme), but whereas the puffball has a single opening on top through which the spores are dispersed, the earthball just breaks up to release the spores. Moreover, Scleroderma citrinum has much firmer flesh and a dark gleba (interior) much earlier in development than puffballs. Scleroderma citrinum has no stem but is attached to the soil by mycelial cords.  The peridium, or outer wall, is thick and firm, usually ochre yellow externally with irregular warts.
The earthball may be parasitized by Pseudoboletus parasiticus.
Scleroderma citrinum can be mistaken with truffles by inexperienced mushroom hunters. Ingestion of Scleroderma citrinum can cause gastrointestinal distress in humans and animals, and some individuals may experience lacrimation, rhinitis and rhinorrhea, and conjunctivitis from exposure to its spores.
Pigments found in the fruiting body of Scleroderma citrinum Pers. are sclerocitrin, norbadione A, xerocomic acid, and badione A.


The birch bolete is edible but considered not to be worthwhile by some guides. It can be pickled in brine or vinegar. It is used also in mixed mushroom dishes, fried or steamed.
It is commonly harvested for food in Finland and Russia.
A few reports in North America (New England and the Rocky Mountains) after 2009 suggest that Leccinums (birch boletes) should only be consumed with much caution.


The cap is 5–15 cm (2–6 in) wide. At first, it is hemispherical, and later becomes flatter. The skin of the cap is tan or brownish, usually with a lighter edge; it is smooth, bald, and dry to viscid.
The pores are whitish at a young age, later gray. In older specimens, the pores on the pileus can bulge out, while around the stipe they dent in strongly. The pore covering is easy to remove from the skin of the pileus.
The stipe is 5–15 cm (2–6 in) long and 1–3.5 cm (3⁄8–1+3⁄8 in) wide, slim, with white and dark to black flakes, and tapers upward. The basic mycelium is white.
The flesh is whitish, sometimes darkening following exposure. In young specimens, the meat is relatively firm, but it very soon becomes spongy and holds water, especially in rainy weather. When cooked, the meat of the birch bolete turns black.
Leccinum scabrum has been found in association with ornamental birch trees planted outside of its native range, such as in California.


Several different species of Leccinum mushrooms are found in mycorrhiza with birches, and can be confused by amateurs and mycologists alike. L. variicolor has a bluish stipe. L. oxydabile has firmer, pinkish flesh and a different pileus skin structure. L. melaneum is darker in color and has yellowish hues under the skin of the pileus and stipe. L. holopus is paler and whitish in all parts.


Phyllotopsis  nidulans, commonly known as the mock oyster or the orange oyster, is a species of fungus in the family Tricholomataceae, and the type species of the genus Phyllotopsis. It is widely dispersed in temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows on decaying wood. The fungus fruit body consists of a fan-shaped, light orange fuzzy cap up to 8 cm (3 in) wide that grows singly or in overlapping clusters. On the cap underside are crowded orange gills. Mock oyster mushrooms have a strong, unpleasant odor, and are regarded as inedible though nonpoisonous.


Phyllotopsis subnidulans, found in the eastern US, is similar in appearance to P. nidulans. The former species can be distinguished by a deeper orange color, thinner gills with wider inter-gill spacing, and curved to sausage-shaped spores. Other similar species include Lentinellus ursinusus, Crepidotus mollis, Panus rudis, Panus conchatus, and Pleurotus ostreatus.


Helvella vespertina is a species of fungus in the family Helvellaceae. It is found in Western North America under conifers. Some specimens have a white moldy appearance, having been colonised by the parasitic Ascomycete fungus Hypomyces cervinigenus.


While nonpoisonous, one field guide says Exidia glandulosa is inedible, though it has also been reported to be edible.


Exidia glandulosa (common names black witches' butter, black jelly roll, or warty jelly fungus) is a jelly fungus in the family Auriculariaceae. It is a common, wood-rotting species in Europe, typically growing on dead attached branches of oak. The fruit bodies are up to 3 cm (1.2 in) wide, shiny, black and blister-like, and grow singly or in clusters. Its occurrence elsewhere is uncertain because of confusion with the related species, Exidia nigricans.


Exidia glandulosa is frequently confused with Exidia nigricans. The two are similar, but E. nigricans produces button-shaped fruit bodies in clusters that quickly become deformed and coalesce, forming an effused, lobed mass that can be 10 cm (3.9 in) or more across. The two species are indistinguishable microscopically, but DNA research indicates they are distinct. The closely related E. recisa has more erect fruit bodies without warts on the surface, lighter colors (ranging from yellowish brown to dark brown), and a small base. E. nucleata is also similar.
The ascomycete Bulgaria inquinans forms similar, rubbery-gelatinous, blackish fruit bodies on oak. Their upper surfaces are entirely smooth, however, and they produce copious black (not white) spore prints, often leaving a black stain if wiped with the hand.


The cap is initially egg-shaped, reaching a width of 7 cm. Later it opens up and takes on a bell shape that is up to 8 cm wide. The cap is serrated and colored white on very young mushrooms. It breaks open with increasing age, so that the beige to dark brown background emerges. Remnants of the white, grayish to cream-colored velum remain on the cap as flakes, giving the impression of woodpecker or magpie plumage. With age, the brim of the cap rolls up and dissolves. The lamellae are very close and are initially greyish-white, then pink to gray in color. Eventually they melt, dripping and black, giving it the name inkcap. The stalk is whitish and 12–20 (–30) cm long and 6–15 mm thick. It is hollow and not very stable, slightly tapered towards the top and covered with scales or fine fibers that form a snake towards the base. The flesh is whitish with a fibrous, watery consistency and sometimes has an unpleasant smell of moth powder. The taste is also unpleasant.
The species is inedible and causes digestive upset.


Coprinopsis picacea is a species of fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It is commonly called magpie inkcap fungus. It was first described in 1785 by French mycologist Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard in 1785 as Agaricus picaceus.
The species can sometimes be confused with the edible Coprinus comatus.


Pisolithus arhizus  is a widespread earth-ball like fungus, which may in fact be several closely related species. Common names include dead man's foot and dyeball.  It is known in Australia as the horse dung fungus, in South Africa as perdebal, and in Europe as the Bohemian truffle.  This puffball's black viscous gel is used as a natural dye for clothes.  Pisolithus arhizus is a major component in mycorrhizal fungus mixtures that are used in gardening as powerful root stimulators. It is inedible.
The fruiting body is 5–30 cm tall and 4–20 cm wide, with a thin yellow-brown to brown exterior layer. The spores are brown.
Dictyocephalos attenuatus is similar.


The mushroom cap is 1–4 cm wide, orange-brown, convex to flat and depressed, with small marginal patches of veil which disappear with age or rain; its odor is mild. The gills are brown and adnate to slightly decurrent. The stalk is 1–5 cm tall and 2–4 mm wide. The spores are pale reddish-brown, elliptical, and smooth.
The species is considered inedible.


It is a pathogen of various deciduous trees including species of Acer, Aesculus, Alnus, Betula, Crataegus, Fagus, Larix, Malus, Ostrya, Picea, Populus, Prunus, Salix, and Sorbus.
After starting as just a crust on the wood, the fruiting structure develops undulating intergrowing brackets up to about 3 cm broad, which have a tough rubbery texture. The edges and fertile lower surfaces show a fairly vivid violet colour while the fungus is growing, and the upper surfaces have a grey aspect (sometimes with zonation and usually a lighter edge) and are covered with whitish hairs. After a week or two the fructification dries out, becomes brittle, and turns a drab brown or beige. Infected wood can be recognized because it is stained a darker tint.
The spores are rounded cylinders approximately 5–8 µm x 3–4 µm in size. The hyphal structure is monomitic with clamp connections.
It is often found on old stumps and dead wood, but can also be a serious parasite of living trees. As well as plum trees it attacks many other broad-leafed species (other Prunus, apple, pear, willow, poplar, maple, hornbeam, plane, oak, elm, lilac, and many others). Occasionally it also infects conifers (fir, spruce, Thuja, ...). Geographically it is roughly just as widespread as its hosts; it is common in woods, orchards and tree plantations in temperate climates.


Leucopaxillus gentianeus is a bitter-tasting, inedible mushroom commonly known as the bitter false funnelcap, or the bitter brown leucopaxillus. A common synonym is Leucopaxillus amarus. The bitter taste is caused by a triterpene called cucurbitacin B. The species was first described in 1873 as Clitocybe gentianea by French mycologist Lucien Quélet. František Kotlaba transferred it to Leucopaxillus in 1966.
The pileus ranges from 4–12 centimetres (1.6–4.7 in) wide and the stipe from 4–6 centimetres (1.6–2.4 in) long.


Bolbitius titubans, also known as Bolbitius vitellinus, is a widespread species of mushroom found in America and Europe. It grows chiefly on dung or heavily fertilized soil, and sometimes on grass. It is nonpoisonous.


The mushroom cap is between 1.5–7 cm, and grows from egg-shaped when young to broadly convex, finally ending up nearly flat. The cap's color starts yellow or bright yellow, and fades to whitish or greyish with age.  The gills are free from the stem or narrowly attached to it, are fragile and soft, and fade from whitish or pale yellowish to rusty cinnamon with age. The stem is 3–12 cm tall and 2–6 mm wide, is whitish-yellow with a fine mealy powdering, and is very delicate. The spores are brown, elliptical, and smooth.
The mushroom's edibility is unknown but it is too small to be worthwhile.
A similar species is Bolbitius aleuriatus.


This species has apothecia (cup-shaped ascocarps) that are usually attached laterally, often less than 0.5 cm in diameter, collapsing laterally and becoming rolled inwards when dry. The outer tissue layer of the apothecium, known as the ectal excipulum, has a delicate tomentose surface composed of hair-like, straight or sometimes coiled, smooth hyphae.  The stipe is typically less than 3 mm long, with a central or eccentric attachment to the apothecia. Spores are roughly spindle-shaped (fusiform), smooth, and 5–8 by 0.7–2.8 µm. Apothecia grow on bark-free wood, especially oak, part of which at least is stained greenish by the mycelium. The abundant paraphyses, which may be entwined, are 55–95 by 1.5–2 µm, filiform, and septate with an unswollen, unbent apex that often extends beyond the level of the asci tips.
The species is distinguished from the closely related C. aeruginosa by having smaller spores. Although some authors have in the past failed to recognize any appreciable differences between the two species, Ramamurthi and colleagues note that not only are the spore sizes different, but C. aeruginascens have smooth tomentum hyphae, in contrast with the roughened hyphae of C. aeruginosa. C. aeruginascens is inedible.


Artomyces pyxidatus is a coral fungus that is commonly called crown coral or crown-tipped coral fungus. Its most characteristic feature is the crown-like shape of the tips of its branches. The epithet pyxidatus means "box-like"—a reference to this shape.
Artomyces pyxidatus can be observed throughout Northern Canada during the growing season. In Britain, it was recorded in 2011, almost 116 years after its previous reliable report, a collection made by mycologist Carleton Reale on 20 October 1886. Two subsequent records have been provided in Britain since 2011; one by Yvonne Davidson in Kent in 2018, and one by Cameron Ambler in East Sussex in 2021. It is widespread but uncommon in Western Europe. They are also widely found in the pine forest of Northeastern India (aka The Eight Sisters of India).
The fungus produces its hard, coral-like fruiting bodies on growing wood. The colour ranges from cream to semi-tan. The branches rise in ringlike arrangements resembling a crown. Basidia and basidiospores are produced on the surfaces of the branches.
These fungi are considered edible when raw, but are better cooked. The fungus are known to be served as meal amongst the tribal groups of Northeastern India since time immemorial. It is best served when fried with chopped potatoes. It is usually found in quantities too small to make a meal.
The sesquiterpenes compounds pyxidatols A-C, tsuicoline E and omphadiol have been obtained from the liquid culture of this fungus.
DNA evidence and microscopy indicates that the species is closely related to members of the genera Russula and Lentinellus, as well as Auriscalpium vulgare. Other similar species include Clavulina avellanea, C. cristata, C. divaricata, C. piperata, and C. taxophila.


Gloeophyllum sepiarium, the rusty gilled polypore, is a wood decay fungus that causes a brown rot. Gloeophyllum sepiarium grows in thin, dark brown/green brackets on dead conifers. Often found on wood in lumberyards, the fruiting body grows for only one year, and produces spores in late summer and autumn. Its hymenial surface is distinctive from other polypores due to the presence of gills. Gloeophyllum sepiarium is inedible.
The cap is 2–15 wide, loosely fan-shaped, brown with a yellow-orange margin during growth, velvety then smooth, and leathery with a mild odor and taste. The spores are white, cylindrical, and smooth.
Similar species include Daedalea quercina, Lenzites betulina, and Trametes versicolor.


Lacrymaria lacrymabunda is a species of fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It is found in North America, Central America, Europe, northern Asia, and New Zealand, where it grows on disturbed ground in woodland, gardens, and parks. Although it is sometimes listed as an edible species, some individuals report developing stomach upset after eating it.
It has jet black, heavily ornamented spores and a fragile, brittle consistency.


This mushroom is edible, though it is tough when older and inferior to the better-known Pleurotus species.
It is a mild parasite of broad-leaved trees (a "white rot").
Like some other Pleurotus species, P. dryinus attacks nematodes and may provide a control method for these parasites when they infect cats and dogs.


Pleurotus dryinus is a species of fungus in the family Pleurotaceae. It grows on dead wood and is also a weak pathogen; infecting especially broad-leaved trees.


The cap, growing to about 13 cm, is pale, beige or (in variety tephrotrichus) greyish; later it can turn yellowish.  Veil remnants may adhere to the edge.  At first it is velvety (tomentose) and the tomentum can develop into grey-brown scales; in old specimens the surface becomes bare and may crack.
The whitish or pale brownish lateral stem may be very short or up to about 8 cm long, generally  with a membranous ring.
The gills are decurrent well down the stipe and may anastomose (criss-cross) at the lower extreme.  They are white or cream.
The smell is described as "pleasant" or "slightly polypore-like" or "complex, a bit fruity or sourish".  The odour is definitely not floury (which can be used to distinguish from P. calyptratus).  The taste is mild.


Mutinus elegans, commonly known as the elegant stinkhorn, the dog stinkhorn, the headless stinkhorn, or the devil's dipstick, is a species of fungus in the Phallaceae (stinkhorn) family. A saprobic species, it is typically found growing on the ground singly or in small groups on woody debris or leaf litter, during summer and autumn in Japan, Europe, and eastern North America. The fruit body begins its development in an "egg" form, resembling somewhat a puffball partially submerged in the ground. As the fungus matures, a slender orange to pink colored stalk emerges that tapers evenly to a pointed tip. The stalk is covered with a foul-smelling slimy green spore mass on the upper third of its length. Flies and other insects feed upon the slime which contains the spores, assisting in their dispersal. Due to their repellent odor, mature specimens are not generally considered edible, although there are reports of the immature "eggs" being consumed. In the laboratory, Mutinus elegans has been shown to inhibit the growth of several microorganisms that can be pathogenic to humans.