That’s a very special sighting, Ciaran, of a rarely recorded plant, in a very unusual habitat: and especially significant as it seems to be fertile. I hope you collected a specimen for the herbarium.
Details are a bit fuzzy on my screen. This could be Nitella - dimensions seem rather small for Ceratophyllum, and branching not quite right. ( when I first looked at this sighting, there was a third image which did indeed look like Ceratophyllum, but it’s since disappeared. No idea what that was or where it came from )
Thanks Jane, you are right! I've had this confirmed by Roman Romanov in Moscow who is an authority with freshwater algae and similar. Turns out I was a bit hasty, better luck next time! :)
Ah, well: let’s hope it didn’t get into ALA as Ceratophyllum while you were waiting ! You don’t need to go to Moscow for such ID - there are people in Australia who work on freshwater algae: Michelle Casanova, Stephen Skinner, Tim Enwistle. There’s a good section on Characeae in Sainty and Jacobs “Waterplants in Australia” (but only the 4th ed.), and a dedicated field guide “Freshwater Algae in Australia” by Entwistle, Sonneman and Lewis. Plus researchers in nearby New Zealand. It’s hard not to get super excited when you think you’ve found something special.
Must admit that once I saw the photos on my PC monitor ( rather than my little smart phone), I was convinced for Ceratophyllum.
Thanks, Michael: I wasn't sure how the uploading ID worked, and have worried a bit about how later ID corrections were addressed. Nice to be re-assured - I should have guessed the good guys at CNM and ALA would have anticipated all this !
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