Mosses and the men who love them (Part 5)

[timebomb]

Hi, folks,

Gan C W and I met the professor at his lab today. Here's my report. It's going to be a long one. Please bear with me.

Mermaid World, a fish shop in Singapore sells a Liverwort called "Mini-Pellia". It looks almost similar to the Monosolenium tenerum, the plant previously known as Pellia endiviifolia. Here's a pic of the "Mini-Pellia" growing on a piece of driftwood.

The professor examined the plant and immediately declared that it's neither a M. tenerum nor a Pellia. The Liverwort is a species of Riccardia. As there were no sporophytes (capsules), the species name cannot be determined. However, the prof said there's one known species of Riccardia that can be found in Singapore - Riccardia graeffei. The R. graeffei, however, does not look like the Mini-Pellia but it would be interesting to find out if it's just as beautiful. Take a closer look the next time you're in our nature reserves. You could possibly find a new aquatic plant for us to grow in our tanks.

Billy Song who lives in the USA sent me a moss which he bought from a fish shop in California.

Billy, it's Singapore Moss. The prof was quite amazed the plant is sold in a fish shop so far away from its native country.

Dominic who lives in Malaysia sent me a moss which he collected from a river near Kuala Lumpur. Here is a picture of the moss in his tank:

Dom, it's also Singapore Moss. This moss can be found in many countries around this region but Singaporean hobbyists were the first to popularise it, hence the name.

Budak found a moss in Pulau Ubin, an island located to the North East of Singapore.

Budak, guess what? It's also Singapore Moss. By the way, the scientific name for Singapore Moss is Vesicularia dubyana. This name was wrongly given to Java Moss which we now know is a species of Taxiphyllum.

Carlos aka tsunami sent me a Java Moss that came with many sporophytes. The moss arrived several weeks ago when the professor was away from Singapore. I had no choice but to keep it alive in one of my tanks. I tied the moss to a piece of rock and it grew well. Unfortunately, when I took it out from the tank this afternoon, the sporophytes were no longer there. They had disappeared. Don't ask me why. I don't know but it could be something to do with our water. Here's a pic:

At the lab, I untied the moss and discovered that there was one sporophyte. It was still there because the strings held it in place. I separated the sporophyte from the moss and you wouldn't believe what happened after that. The Java Moss and the sporophyte were on a sheet of white paper. The prof, Gan and I were looking at it when the sporophyte suddenly disappeared. How can that be, you ask? Honestly, I don't know. The lab was air-conditioned so there wasn't a breeze. Maybe Gan who was sitting next to the piece of paper exhaled a little too hard and the sporophyte got blown away. I really don't know but we searched all over but couldn't find the damn thing. The prof jokingly said we lost a *3 million dollar* sporophyte. Carlos, if you are reading this, the prof and I will appreciate it very much if you can send the plant again.

Robert who lives in Germany sent me a moss he got from a fish shop owner there. It came with sporophytes. Robert thinks it's Java Moss. I kept it alive in one of my tanks by tying it to a piece of undergravel filter plate. Here's a pic:

Robert, it isn't Java Moss. It's a species of Vesicularia. As the country of origin is not known, the prof can't confirm the species name.
We found some interesting things growing on the moss though - sex organs. If you're under 18, you may want to skip the next few paragraphs But seriously, the prof showed us the male and female flowers of the moss. Here are some pictures I took through the prof's microscopes.

Here's a male flower:

It's called a flower but under the leaves, the male sex organs are hidden. The prof removed the leaves to show us this:

There are usually about 4 or 5 male sex organs in every male flower but there are only 2 in the picture. The others got lost when the leaves were removed. They look like peas and in the picture, one is still inside the flower.

Here's a female flower:

After the leaves were removed, the female organs were exposed:

They're brown in colour. As with male sex organs, there are many of them inside each flower. But although they all can get fertilised by the sperm from the male organs, only one female organ inside each flower reaches maturity. The first one to be fertilised releases an enzyme that prevents the other female organs from maturing.

Okay, that's all for the birds and the bees. Now back to mosses.

Tony aka Gomer found an interesting moss in his tank. Tony didn't actually plant the moss in his tank. It simply sprang out from a piece of driftwood and flourished. Tony knows though, that the driftwood was collected by a company in Louisana and that was an important factor in determining the species. Here's a pic of the moss in Tony's tank:


Tony sent me a sample and I kept it alive by tying it to a piece of undergravel filter plate. It's a beautiful moss:

Tony, you're right. It's a Fissidens. The full scientific name is Fissidens fontanus. The prof said this moss is quite common in North America.

A couple of months ago, Gianmarco Bertaccinni who lives in Brazil sent me 2 mosses. They were labelled as Londrina's Moss and Sao Paulo Moss. I didn't bring them to the prof because I thought there's little point in doing that as nobody else besides me in Singapore have these mosses. Lately, however, Livio came into this forum and in a private message, told me he has these mosses in his tanks. So I showed them to the prof.

Here's the Londrina's Moss:


Here's the Sao Paulo Moss:

The prof said they are both species of Vesicularia peculiar to South America. The prof isn't an expert on South American mosses and he does not have the reference books so he can't identify the specie names.

Some time back, I was at Teo's aquatic plant farm and he gave me a bunch of Moss which he said were imported from China. Here's a pic:

The prof said it's Leptodictyum riparium. In other words, it's Stringy Moss but in another form. Just like Singapore Moss, it seems like the Stringy Moss appears in many forms. Tan S W (aka Aquaturbo), a hobbyist who lives in Singapore grows them in vases. He was the one who came up the common name, Stringy Moss.


A few weeks ago, I got 2 mosses from Gen X, a fish shop in Singapore. One was called Creeping Moss:

The prof said it's a species of Vesicularia too.

The other one does not have a common name but it's beautiful:

The prof said it's a species of Taxiphyllum.

Without knowing the country of origin, it's very difficult for the professor to make a positive identification. The prof and I discussed this and we have decided that in future, I should not bring mosses whose origins are unknown to him. In other words, if the moss was bought or taken from a fish shop, we won't identify it for you. It would be a pointless exercise, unless of course, you don't mind knowing only the genus names.

That's all for my report, folks. Hope you enjoyed it. Time to hit the bedsheets. It's been a long day.

Loh K L

<<-- Part IV .... Part VI-->>

[TyroneGenade]

I hope you will collate all this and publish an article in one of the mainstream tropical fish mags. I'm going to have a tough time convincing people why I call my Java moss Taxiphyllum sp... and that V. dubyana is niether the US Pres. nor Java moss as we all recall and love it...

Regards

P.S. I recently tugged some moss out of the CNR institute lawn and popped it in a water bottle where it is growing lovely. It floats a lot but peals beutifully. I don't think it will make a good aquarium moss unless you want a floating species. Of course, as the moss mat gathers mass it may sink... I will try tying some down at some stage when I have a larger enough mass of it.

P.P.S. I must obtain some Fissidens...

[hwchoy]

KL, you mean you didn't bring that Fissidens from Ben to the prof? the one you gave a sample to Bioplast? It is growing beautifully there, it now looks like a kiwi!

[BeyondGomer]

Thanks for the update!
great post too.

[Green Baron]

Some time back, I was at Teo's aquatic plant farm and he gave me a bunch of Moss which he said were imported from China. Here's a pic:

The prof said it's Leptodictyum riparium. In other words, it's Stringy Moss but in another form. Just like Singapore Moss, it seems like the Stringy Moss appears in many forms. Tan S W (aka Aquaturbo), a hobbyist who lives in Singapore grows them in vases. He was the one who came up the common name, Stringy Moss.

Actually there were 3 species of mosses tied to the drift wood ! - A Taxiphyllum, most likely java Moss, a Vesicularia, most likely Singapore moss and a Leptodictyum. The prof didn't identify the species as we are not sure of the origing of these mosses.

KL, you mean you didn't bring that Fissidens from Ben to the prof? the one you gave a sample to Bioplast? It is growing beautifully there, it now looks like a kiwi!

The prof has already seen Ben's Fissidens, see <this > post, just that he has not had the time to identify the species name.

[hwchoy]

oh OK. but not determined yet whether it is a new occurence record or a new species right?

[budak]

i should like to add that what you describe as 'flowers' should actually be termed the archegonia (femae sex organs) and antheridia (male organs). The sperm cells travel to the archegonia and fuse into a sporophyte that develops as a capsule at the end of a long stalk. When mature, the capsule releases a new generation of spores that disperse to become new mosses.

Sex involves an alternation of the sporophyte (diploid) and gametophyte (haploid) generations in an organism. The visible manifestations of vascular plants (cabbages, ferns and what not) and naked apes are diploid beings, with a full double (sometimes triple) set of chromosomes, and the gametes (egg and sperm) are produced when diploid cells divide in a way (mitosis) that produces daughter cells with only half the chromosome array (thus two parents contribute each 50% of their genome to a child).

People tend to see moss spores=seeds, but spores should be rightly considered as equivalent to egg/sperm. It's a wee confusing, but the simple way to put it is: the sporophyte (diploid) generation of the moss produces spores, which form the gametophyte phase. The spores are what grows and develops into the leafy or thalloid plants we are familiar with. But being haploid, they are only ‘half the beast’, so to say, as they contain only one set of the species’ chromosomes (i.e. only half the full genome).

The visible leaves and stems of mosses and liverworts could be regarded as if their haploid reproductive cells, instead of busily pursuing making whoopee, had decided to continue growing and developing into full-fledged self-sustaining plants. (how human sperm cells might turn out if they had a longer life span and could sustain further, independent growth would be a good exercise for biological science fiction writers).

Anyway, ONLY the fused embryo that develops as the sporophyte in the capsule can be seen as the 'complete' organism that we call a moss. And mirroring the bryophytes’ generational reversal, the moss sporophyte is a short-lived, miniscule creature that exists only to divide into sufficient numbers of new gametophytes (i.e. spores) to spread the species geographically.

I am not sure how the Prof. does it, but it makes sense that to identify the specific moss (rather than just the genus), the precious and fragile sporophytes (again, NOT spores) are required, as they are the only complete expression of the organism, while the nice leafy patterns we enjoy say little about the true identity of the plant. And many people seem to fail to understand that plants (unlike animals) are highly plastic and can display highly disparate morphologies depending on growth conditions, regional variations etc…. just look at Vesicularia dubyana. ONLY the sporophyte possesses the key features that mark a moss’s true lineage.

[damnit]

Very intertesting read!!! Thanks KL!!!

So far, the mini pellia is doing great in my office tank which is typically at 22-24 degrees. Its mass has tripled but still very slow growing. Will try to take some pictures next week for all to see

[budak]

The native Riccardia is shown and described in the little guidebook co-authored by Prof. Tan in this under-rated series.

[itssg]

wow...such an interesting read. Thanks to Loh and Prof helps to verify the mosses.

[timebomb]

KL, you mean you didn't bring that Fissidens from Ben to the prof? the one you gave a sample to Bioplast? It is growing beautifully there, it now looks like a kiwi!

Choy, I'm afraid there's a slight problem with the Fissidens that Ben found. Gan left on his own yesterday so he isn't aware that I spoke to the professor about this when I drove him home. The prof has seen the Fissidens but here's the problem. The prof isn't convinced that the moss was found locally. He believes it came from another country. I told him many times that Ben Yau found the moss somewhere in one of our nature reserves but the prof thinks my leg is being pulled, if you know what I mean.

The only way to convince the prof, I guess, is to bring him to the place where Ben found the moss. I don't know if it can be arranged in the near future though. The prof is busy with many projects but we'll see how we can work things out.

And yes, I saw how beautiful the moss is in Bioplast's tank. I heard a rumour which I can't confirm if it's true but it seems like a hobbyist loved the moss so much he offered Bioplast $500 for the piece of rock with the Fissidens but they refused to sell And you guys thought the Mini-Pellia was expensive Okay, here's the picture of the $500 Fissidens.

Take note, though, it's just a rumour. You know how it is; people will tell you all sorts of stories.

Loh K L

[hwchoy]

that's it! I'm going to get more with Ben. Prof Tan will get to see a bald patch

[hwchoy]

I just told the moss hunter that his credibility has been called into question he is now thinking very hard exactly where it is found. let him take another walk see if it refreshes his memory and then we arrange for the prof to take us on a nature walk?

in any case it is in the Bukit Timah area.

[budak]

i bought a small patch similar to that mini fissidens in Bangkok last month.

[timebomb]

I just told the moss hunter that his credibility has been called into question

Choy, I don't doubt Ben's credibility. His memory may not be so good but Ben is one of the most honest person I know. In any case, the Fissidens couldn't have possibly come from another country because when Ben gave it to me, they were growing on a piece of rock which was quite large. It's highly unlikely that if the moss was sent from another country, the sender would send the rock too.

Loh K L

[hwchoy]

Choy, I don't doubt Ben's credibility. His memory may not be so good but Ben is one of the most honest person I know.
Loh K L

ooh adding insults to injury

ya ya otherwise I wouldn't be partnering him for my website

[timebomb]

I hope you will collate all this and publish an article in one of the mainstream tropical fish mags.

We're working on it, Tyrone. The professor has agreed to write an article for TAG (The Aquatic Gardener).

Loh K L

[timebomb]

I am not sure how the Prof. does it

Well, Budak, if you like to know, you can come along the next time we meet the prof at his lab. I'll let you know.

And many people seem to fail to understand that plants (unlike animals) are highly plastic and can display highly disparate morphologies depending on growth conditions, regional variations etc….

I don't know if it's the same but Gan mentioned Goldfish when the prof was talking about different forms in one species. There are more than one hundred different types of Goldfish. They all look very different but they are all the same species. So it is with moss. Besides the Singapore Moss, we now suspect the Weeping Moss appears in many forms too.

Loh K L

[imported_subzero]

Thanks for the compliment and frankness I used to stay near dairy farm and often walk along the bicycle track and pipeline that leads to the main Bt.Timah visitor centre. I am sure the Fissidens was picked up on the way, but exectly which stream i really have no idea now.

[BeyondGomer]

I heard a rumour which I can't confirm if it's true but it seems like a hobbyist loved the moss so much he offered Bioplast $500 for the piece of rock with the Fissidens but they refused to sell

1) I think I need to retoactively charge Loh
2) I need to hit the high end auction house soon