A pile of old .....

Evidence of the marine polychaete worm Arenicola marina commonly known as the lugworm. Adults reach between 12 and 20 cm in length and vary in colour from pink to dark pink, red, green, dark brown or black. They dig U or J-shaped burrows some 20-40 cm deep in sand or mud. The burrow has a characteristic depression at the head end (the 'blow hole') and a cast of defaecated sediment at the tail end. They feed on detritus and micro-organisms in ingested sediment. The cast is large and often the colour of clean sand. They are preyed on by flatfish and wading birds, which may 'nip' off the tail as the worm deposits its cast. They area also a favourite bait for human sea anglers.

Yesterday's mystery object was the underside of the Dryad's Saddle fungus that I blipped recently. Unlike most mushrooms which produce their spores on gills Polypores such as the Dryad's Saddle produce then in pores. Congratulations to Hanulli who identified it as a fungus and to Burradoo whose identification was spot on!