A Redditor wanted help identifying a mysterious blob they spotted in a lake, and the "What is It?" community did not disappoint.
"Thought it was an animal, but it didn't react to lightly touching it or turning it with a stick, so I guessed it wasn't," the original poster wrote alongside a video of the blob. "A bunch of little fish were around it too."
(Click here to watch the video if the embed does not appear.)
"Looks like one of the biggest bryozoan colonies I've ever seen," another Redditor commented.
The Reddit community reached consensus that the lake floater was most likely a bryozoan. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the jellyfish-like floaters are "filter-feeding, microscopic invertebrates known as Freshwater Bryozoan or zooids, and their presence indicates a healthy body of water."
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service stated that the invertebrates attach their colonies to rocks or branches underwater, and that "a single little zooid may filter as much as 8 milliliters (1/4 ounce) every day; and there are hundreds, even thousands, in a single colony."
There are over 4,000 species of the beneficial blobs, and they are of great interest to biochemical scientists, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The interest stems from the fact that some bryozoans may have medicinal uses due to the many chemical compounds they produce.
"So under the 'ugly but good' category," one viewer commented on the OP's video.
"I am both equally [amazed] and disgusted," another added.
"Please stop poking him with a stick," one more said.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 The poster clearly had good intentions, and they likely did no harm. If a piece of a bryozoan colony breaks off, it can continue to grow and form a new colony. However, the last commenter had a point.
Educating yourself before acting whenever a living thing is involved helps protect the environment and all living within it.
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