Neil and I had an excursion on Raasay last week to catch a spit on the east coast of Raasay at low water. Whilst waiting for the tide we checked some coastal woodland for fungi and whatever else we could find.
Lichens included species of both Sticta and Stictis species. The recent split of Sticta fuliginosa into four separate species does not help us amateurs to get to species level in our identifications.
Larger fungi were a bit disappointing in both number and variety, but we found Candlesnuff Fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon) and Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare). A fungus with very small fruiting bodies was growing on lichen. It looks like Merismodes anomala. but this is normally found growing directly on dead wood.
I spotted a leaf mine on Common Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) that I have yet to sort out.
Later: the mine was made by a larva of the fly Liriomyza strigata. This turns out to be a new vice-county record.
Down on the shore there was a wide variety of things to see, even if it wasn’t the lowest of low tides. A small specimen of Spiny Squat Lobster (Galathea strigosa), two (possibly three) species of sea squirts – Star Ascidian (Botryllus schloserri), Botryllus leachii (probably) and Lissoclinum perforatum – and Needle whelk (Bittium reticulatum) were just a few of the highlights.
All images and i.d.s are down to Neil (except the leaf mine).
Tags: Fungi, Insects, Sea Creatures
Plants of Skye, Raasay & The Small Isles 
March 13, 2024 at 10:32 am |
[…] Sunday, Neil and I took advantage of a very low tide to revisit the spit on the east coast of Raasay. As well as a good variety of marine invertebrates, we found a new site for Zostera marina […]