As per nested posts below, some #rockpool #seaweeds are taxonomically plants. Some just look like it. Yet others are plants despite looking like coral: e.g. encrusting, calcified red #algae. These two belong to 'lithothamnia' group requiring microscopy to identify. Camusdarach, Highland, Scotland.

1/4 Notable and nationally scarce (but probably under-recorded) #lichen Lepra excludens, on coastal siliceous rock, near Morar, Highland, Scotland. First record for hectad NM69, and one of only handful for VC97 West Inverness-shire. There are similar 'white sorediate crusts', but L excludens can be…

Most dazzling sea #anemone I observed in Scottish #rockpools this summer: dahlia anemone (Urticina felina). So colourful it's named after two flowers! This large anemone sports sticky warts on column so gravel and shell adhere and it can hide with tentacles retracted. Found all round British shores.

Join me at @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social Carlton Marshes on 11 October and discover the secret world of #lichens! We'll learn all about the extraordinary beauty, variety and ecological importance of lichens, before heading out to see lichens 'in the wild'! www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/events/2025-...

Icmadophila ericetorum on peat above Loch Morar, Scotland. Distinctive #lichen with almost bluish granular thallus and striking pink apothecia! Only member of its genus in Britain. Common on damp ground in Scottish highlands ('Icmadophila'='loves dampness'), but still first record for hectad NM79.

Strange beauty of sea #anemones is great joy of exploring #rockpools. Distant cousins of coral and jellyfish. I observed four species on summer holidays in Morar, Scotland, including common beadlet (Actinia equina) below. Also common is snakelocks (Anemonia viridis): like stinging bowl of spaghetti!

1/3 This is Fuscidea lightfootii from Bracorina, Loch Morar, Scotland. First for hectad NM79. Normally fertile, it's sometimes found infertile as here, with soredia (powdery vegetative propagules) only. In this state, it's easy to confuse with other 'dreaded green sorediate crusts': dreaded…

Next 'holiday #seaweed' is distinctive 'green sea fingers'! Three look-alike species are found in Britain. All belong to genus Codium; all are green #algae (so plants); one (C fragile) is invasive. Note peek-a-boo shrimp hiding in one photo: we'll return to them in our tour of Scottish rockpools!

Lepra corallina (white #lichen with peg-like isidia) infected by Sclerococcum sphaerale (black mould #fungus with grape-like sporodochia). Common fungal infection of this lichen species, but first hectad record. L corallina is itself common on stone in N and W of Britain. Above Loch Morar, Scotland.

More #seaweed from holiday. Gutweed (Ulva intestinalis) is green #alga (plant) often dominating upper-shore #rockpools. Looks a mess out of water, but underwater it's otherworldly: jungle of thin, intestinal tubes, bubbling with oxygen by-product of photosynthesis. Near Morar and on Eigg, Scotland.

Exceedingly few #lichens can grow as far down shore as Wahlenbergiella (Verrucaria) mucosa. It can survive lengthy saltwater immersion: note barnacles! Indeed, it doesn't occur above high tide: true #marine species. Common on British rocky coasts: this from Achaidh Mhoir beach near Morar, Scotland.

A few places left on my Beginner Lichen Microscopy online course! All basic technique, and live demonstrations. And bit more time to sign up: now starting 2 October by request of tutees already registered. Join them and me and look more closely at lichens, literally! aspenecology.com/beginner-lic...

Continuing theme of #seaweed from Scottish holiday: this is sea oak (Halidrys siliquosa). Another brown #alga (not plant) common on British shores. #Rockpool specialist: here creating small 'forest' in large pool at Camusdarach. Note snakelocks #anemone (Anemonia viridis) riding high on one branch.

1/2 Porpidia platycarpoides, Port nam Murrach, Highland, Scotland. Mainly but not exclusively local, coastal species of siliceous rock, like this specimen. First hectad record. In general, Lecideaceae family #lichens such as Porpidia can be easily confused with one another. But P platycarpoides is…

Channelled wrack (Pelvetia canaliculata) from my Scottish holiday. Brown #alga (not plant) most tolerant of exposure, so dominates shore near high-tide line. Provides food, shelter, oxygen, substrate for other organisms. Can host specialised #lichen, too! (Collemopsidium pelvetiae: rare in Britain).

Little time to write my #lichen notes recently. So change of plan: publish species information and specimen galleries sooner, add detailed field and lab notes later. Former now available for Enchylium (Collema) tenax, one of Britain's most common 'jelly' lichens! See aspenecology.com/enchylium-co...

Beadlet (Actinia equina) is most common British intertidal #anemone. It can fully enclose in its column, so it's tolerant of exposure at low tide. It's usually vivid red, but occasionally other lovely colours. Abundant in Scottish #rockpools I explored on holiday: some nice examples below.

1/2 This black, shaggy #lichen is Lichina pygmaea, growing among #barnacles above #rockpool at Camusdarach, Highland, Scotland. One of few lichens that can tolerate twice-daily immersion in saltwater as tides rise and fall. Easy to confuse with look-alike sister species L confinis, but also easy to…

1/2 Mystery #fungus below identified, I think! Thanks to steer from Neil Sanderson, I believe it's Hysteriobrevium smilacis feeding on bark/wood of ash tree, and coincidentally growing through overlying P argena #lichen. So presumably not lichenicolous, but potentially first Suffolk record! As for…

#Rockpool scene, Camusdarach, Highland, Scotland. Common #limpet (Patella vulgata), and encrusting 'pink paint' #alga (Corallinaceae) engulfing #barnacles (probably Semibalanus). Note 'fuzz' of epibionts growing on limpet shell: possibly more algae. Lots of biodiversity even in this close-up photo!

Apropos of below, second #lichen to share from holiday: Blastenia crenularia. Unlike K ceracea, it lacks algal layer under apothecia. So quick field dissection can confirm it in the same way as for its look-alike cousin. Cut section in better focus this time! Port nam Murrach, Highland, Scotland.

When on Scottish shores I love #rockpooling. Astounding biodiversity! More to come, but for now this to set scene: featuring green #seaweed (Codium) pink paint #algae (Corallinaceae), #anemones (Actinia equina), #shrimp (Palaemon), and sea #snail (Littorina). Port nam Murrach, Highland, Scotland.

1/2 First #lichen to share from holiday: Kuettlingeria ceracea, on maritime siliceous rock at Morar Bay, Highland, Scotland. Common, but first record for hectad TM69. Easily confused with look-alike Blastenia crenularia! But distinguished by having algal layer under apothecia. I find best way to…

And just one more post to finish off arachnids spotted pre-holiday: Mr and Mrs Pholcus phalangoides. Their happy home behind car roof-box stored in garage disturbed by holiday dusting-off. Mrs P galvanised to save her brood; Mr P paralysed into useless inaction. Typical. Bungay, Suffolk, England.

'Pleased to meet you. The name's Entoplognatha. Entoplognatha ovata.' Well, perhaps. Could also be E latimana. It can be easier to identify British spies than British spiders, even common ones! Pretty thing anyway. Bungay, Suffolk, England. @suffolk-nats1929.bsky.social @britishspiders.bsky.social

Opilio canestrinii, another #harvestman disturbed by same garden tidy as Odiellus spinosus below. At just right angle to catch bright afternoon sunlight, highlighting long, whip-like, sensitive second leg pair with which this poor-sighted animal navigates its surroundings. Bungay, Suffolk, England.

1/2 These fuzzy growths are apothecia of Unguiculariopsis thallophila, a #lichenicolous #fungus, here infecting Lecanora hybocarpa auct br (overgrown with algae) on oak twig, Flatford Mill, Suffolk, England. Common, but like all LFs in Britain, grossly under-recorded. This specimen is only 7th/8th…

Just returned from fortnight’s holiday on and among stunning shores and lochs of Morar in #Scotland’s ‘Rough Bounds’. Cottage WiFi struggled with photos, so lots to post in arrears: #lichens of course, but also #rockpool #marine life, #moths and more. If you’re into such things, stay tuned!

Tidying up garden flowers gone over for season, I disturbed some Odiellus spinosus #harvestmen. Common in southeast England, but new for me, and first hectad record too. Note characteristic chunky body, conspicuous trident, and spiny trochanters and front cephalothorax rim. Bungay, Suffolk, England.

Lecanora pulicaris on weathered fence rail, Flatford Mill, Suffolk, England. First hectad record. This #lichen prefers clean acid bark, or lignum as here. Distinguished from look-alike 'L subfusca' group species by Pd+ red reaction from fumarprotocetraric acid, especially in margins of apothecia.

For #wildflowerhour: not flower, but tender young leaves of crack willow (Salix fragilis) looking like strange undersea flowers in ultraviolet light. Bright fluorescent spots on leaves possibly phytoliths: silica granules to deter herbivory. Older leaves lacked them. Ditchingham, Norfolk, England.

Alyxoria culmigena, Flatford Mill, Suffolk, England. First record for hectad. Simple lirellae, 3-septate spores with enlarged second cell, I+ red hymenial tissue. Don't confuse with A ochrocheila: spores very similar, but epihymenium and subhymenium of latter #lichen are persistently blue in iodine.

Mild-mannered and retiring by day, by night the humble garden #snail (Cornu aspersum) undergoes an extraordinary metamorphosis, transforming into the centre-of-attention, disco-dancing queen of the back-garden rave scene. In ultraviolet light at Falcon Meadow, Ditchingham, Norfolk, England.

1/4 In his pioneering 2001 study of British coastal lagoon #lichens, Oliver Gilbert noted that shrubby sea-blite (Suaeda vera) supported high cover of 'Lecanora dispersa'. This taxon has since been disaggregated into numerous species, including Myriolecis hagenii, which I found in dense colonies…

Crustose #lichens often form mosaics on surfaces, as on tree-bark here. They may seem impassive and unchanging, but lichens compete fiercely for space, light, water. Every black line below is toxin-soaked wall built by opponents fighting each other to standstill. Kessingland, Suffolk, England.

I enjoy encountering the odd #harvestman when examining rocks and trees for #lichens. Another ancient and successful form of life. This is Opilio canestrinii, clinging to a tree-trunk in Loddon, Norfolk, England. Harvestmen tend to mature for autumn, and this is the first adult I've seen this year.

The unusual flowers of sea spurge (Euphorbia paralias), one of the wildflowers hardy enough for the harsh but beautiful and special vegetated shingle habitat in Suffolk, as well as elsewhere around the British coast (see post below). Spotted this weekend at Kessingland Dunes. #wildflowerhour

Nationally scarce Lecanora barkmaniana, Carlton Marshes, Suffolk, England. Only fifth Suffolk record. More to come as this nitrophilic #lichen expands range in today's over-fertilised environment. Yellowish-gray soredia, K+ and K/UV(dry)+ yellow from atranorin, UV+ orange, sometimes also Pd+ yellow.

Vegetated shingle and wet dune slack, Shingle Street and Kessingland Dunes, Suffolk, England. Rare and threatened habitat in Europe, much of which occurs in Britain. Suffolk has considerable share of it, and therefore special conservation responsibility. Important habitat for #lichens, too.

1/2 Chrysothrix candelaris, Felixstowe Ferry, Suffolk, England. Common #lichen, but still first record for hectad TM33. Usually found on tree trunks, but here on thin twigs of shrubby sea-blite (Suaeda vera) at saltmarsh edge. Unlike e.g. Xanthoria parietina seen at margins of photo, it's yellow…

This elegant little ermine #moth that I recently found indoors can't be reliably identified to species unless reared from caterpillar. Probably spindle ermine (Yponomeuta cagnagella) or apple ermine (Y malinellus): there's apple tree in my garden, and spindle trees very nearby. Pretty thing anyway!

An exotic for #wildflowerhour this evening: the star-shaped flowers of Kandelia obovata, a species of mangrove shrub. Stamens now mostly shed, and ovaries beginning to develop into small fruits. Tai O, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.

Surprised my phone camera had difficulty focusing on Nephila pilipes: at ~20cm it boasts more-or-less largest legspan of any #spider in world. Not to mention vast webs to sail a ship! Extremely (and somewhat disconcertingly) common along (and above) Tung O Ancient Trail, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.

Spot the #spider! I didn't until I was nose to nose. (Momentarily shocking when spider has ~7 cm legspan.) Hersilia striata, which waits camouflaged on tree-trunks for some poor, unwary insect to tweak thin lace netting that spider has spread over bark as trap. Near Tai O, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.

Peltigera didactyla, Carlton Marshes, Suffolk, England. Not scarce #lichen, but still first hectad record. Distinguished from other British Peltigera by having soredia when young. After soredia disappear, it resembles P canina, but unlike that species it lacks profuse, woolly rhizines on underside.

This large white (Pieris brassicae) #caterpillar recently took up residence in shallow recess at top of my kitchen window. Transformed into chrysalis by next day. It was always unlikely that I'd be present for very moment it emerged as #butterfly, but it's still a pity! Bungay, Suffolk, England.

This juvenile Opilio canestrinii recently wandered indoors through window accidentally left open overnight. Probably attracted to night-light. I've previously had both juvenile and adult forms of this #harvestman as 'by-catch' in my moth light-trap. Bungay, Suffolk, England.

Lecanora hybocarpa auct br, Carlton Marshes, Suffolk, England. First record for hectad, even accounting for records of L chlarotera, with which this #lichen was until recently confused. Magnified apothecia sections show characteristic descending epithecial crystals glowing in cross-polarised light.

Shag-pile carpet of filamentous Trentepohlia #algae on lignum of fence-gate, Flatford Mill, Suffolk, England. Happy to grow in full sun thanks to its self-made UV-protective beta-carotene 'sunscreen'. Same orange pigment as in carrots! Would otherwise look green from chlorophyll, like typical alga.

Cleaning up old photos I found these images. Taken when I lived in #Arctic, but before my interest in #lichens. I think I was drawn to their strange patterns. Left: Physcia of unknown species near Iqaluit, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, 2008. Right: Rusavskia elegans near Myvatn, Iceland, 2009.