Mushroom poop?

[MLHoenig]

What was I watching?

I noticed this cluster of purple spheres being extruded from the mouth of one of my 'shrooms last week; it eventually detached and floated away...

 

[bribo12]

They look like mesenterial filaments which is a defense mechanism of the animal.


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[MLHoenig]

They weren't filaments...they looked like a bunch of grapes...easily over a dozen or two, and as I watched, a few others emerged, then they floated away together like a group of balloons.

 

[MLHoenig]

Just did a little more research...

It seems my 'shroom may have been undergoing sexual reproduction - releasing eggs & sperm into the water column, according to one site.

More research required to determine if the eggs would be a light purple color like what I witnessed...

 

[54seaweed]

Baby mushrooms wouldn't that be nice , I have some in my tank but most of them seem to release and move to the backside of the rocks , some stay but not many I would love to see the rocks covered with them , I don't know what it is with the backside of the rocks that attracts them , even my nems are back there . I love mushrooms but I won't buy more since I can't enjoy them on the back of the rocks ,

 

[Ricksreef]

Be careful what you wish for with that particular mushroom.When I had my 46 gallon bow front I started with one and it went crazy reproducing and they get huge and can take over your tank.


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[MLHoenig]

I already have too many of these; been thinking (a lot!) about packing up a few, along with several of my ten baby xmas trees, and getting some store credit at my LFS.