Mosses & the men who love them (Part XI)

[timebomb]

Hi, everyone,

It's been a while since I made a "mosses and men who love them" post. Both the professor and I have been distracted recently. He is moving to a new job as a Deputy Director in the Singapore Botanical Gardens and I've been busy with other stuff, like helping Chishio Hidaka with her DNA fingerprinting project. She isn't finished with the project yet and it looks like I might have to ask you all for help again soon. I'll elaborate a bit more about that in another post.

For this report, there are 4 chapters:

1. The mosses that Armin sent
2. The mosses that Susan sent
3. The Dragon Ball Moss
4. The fern gametophyte
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1. Armin who lives in Poland sent 7 mosses. He did an incredible job with the labeling and packaging.

The mosses arrived in perfect condition. Unfortunately, Armin does not know where the mosses originate from. Mostly, he got them through purchases from various dealers and trades with other hobbyists living in Poland.

The professor said Moss No. 1 is a Barbula sp.

I lifted this picture from the professor's moss book:

The professor said Barbula sp is a not an aquatic moss but look how well it grows in Armin's tank:


Moss No. 2 is a Vesicularia.

One distinctive feature of a Vesicularia is its many lateral branches:


Moss No. 3 is also a Vesicularia but this one comes with red sporophytes:


Moss No. 4 is another Vesicularia:

This one has something called "pseudoparaphyllia" among its leaves. These are small structures that can only show up under a microscope. They are the long and red tubes protruding from the stems. If the professor had not said so, I would have thought they were worms.


Moss No. 5 is again another Vesicularia:

The professor isn't sure of the species but I'm quite sure I've seen this one before. Someone from France sent me a sample of this moss many moons ago and after the professor examined it, I gave it to Bioplast fish shop. They have been growing it in their tanks since. This Vesicularia isn't among any of the 3 we have positively identified. It isn't a V. montagnei (Christmas Moss), a V. ferriei (Weeping Moss) or a V. reticulata (Erect Moss). It's quite definitely a different species but we just aren't sure which one.


Moss No. 6 is a Taxiphyllum

A Taxiphyllum is easily distinguishable by its long and narrow cells:


Moss No. 7 is another Vesicularia.

One distinctive feature of a Vesicularia is the broad large cells in its leaves:


I like to say, other than the fact that they were very well labeled and packaged, Armin's mosses were also the healthiest and greenest I've ever seen. I don't know how he does it but I think Armin is one of the most accomplished moss-growers ever. The pictures don't do him justice but take a look at his website called Aquarminy to see what I mean.

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2. Susan who lives in Virginia, USA sent 4 mosses which she found within the "state park zone". I don't know what she means by that term; my guess is it's something like a nature reserve.

Anyway, here's a picture of the first moss that Susan sent. It was in much better condition when it arrived but it's been more than 2 months since I kept it in a container:

The professor said it's a Brachythecium sp. The leaf cells are long and narrow, just like those of a Taxiphyllum's:

But in the case of a Brachythecium, there are also teeth at the edges of the leaves:


The second moss that Susan sent is a Thuidium sp.:

This moss is quite common to many parts of the world. Gan CW found the same moss on one of his trips to Malaysia. Here's a picture Gan took of the moss in its natural habitat:

The moss is so common, in fact, that it has a common name - Feather Moss. It's so called because of the many hairs among its leaves:

Actually, they are not really hair. In botanical terms, they are known as "paraphyllium":


Susan's third moss is a Plagiominium sp.

There's still a green branch or 2 among the dead ones:

A picture of a branch of Plagiominium lifted from the professor's moss book:

There are several species of Plagiominium's but this one has round leaves with sharp teeth at the edges:


The last moss is also a species of Plagiominium. I think this one has great potential of establishing itself as the next most sought-after moss in the hobby. Behold!! - 2 months in a plastic container and it still looks so good:

But don't go paying astronomical prices for the moss though. The way Susan puts it, there are acres of it around where she lives. She’s sitting on some prime real estate, if you ask me . Like the earlier Plagiominium, the leaves of this one has sharp teeth too but the leaves instead of being round are long in shape:


A few local fish shops have a species of Plagiominium for sale. We don't know which species it is but it's quite certain the moss can live underwater. Here are 2 pictures of a Plagiominium in Bioplast fish shop:



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3. A while back, a moss called DragonBall Moss by its sellers made its appearance on online auction stores like ebay and aquabid. There is some controversy surrounding this moss. In fact, whether it's a moss at all is a mystery. A hobbyist who lives in the USA wrote directly to the professor. He (the hobbyist) thought it is the same as Sphagnum moss. I think the professor's reply would be of interest to many hobbyists so I'm putting it here for all to see:

The aquarium moss plant that you obtained from the market/shop is a
species of an ephemeral ground moss, Physcomitrium. It is not the same
as the one in the picture posted in my website, which is a species of
Sphagnum, or more commonly known as the peat moss.

The species of Sphagnum are truly aquatic in habitat requirement for
growth, but your moss plant (dragon ball moss) is a wet earth moss, not
truly aquatic.

Hope that the above clarify the doubts in your mind.

Sincerely,
Dr. Ben C Tan
DBS, NUS

Here's a picture of the so-called DragonBall Moss that was sent to the professor by the American hobbyist:


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4. We’ve been talking about this next plant for some time now. Initially, hobbyists thought it was a Liverwort because it looks quite similar to Monoselenium tenerum. But we know now that it’s a fern. Specifically, it’s a fern gametophyte. For the longest time, its identity was a mystery, not just to the hobbyists but to the botanists as well. Through DNA analysis, however, they have now discovered that the fern gametophyte comes closest to the species, Lomariopsis lineata. Robert Pietrusiak of Poland was the person who directed us to this link where you can see a short write-up of this plant.

Just so you know which plant we are talking about, here are some pictures of the fern gametophyte:


Bioplast has lots of it. They even use it as a fern wall:


A close-up picture of the plant:


Take note that the plant is a fern. It's neither a moss nor a liverwort. To be exact, it's a fern that for some strange reason, can't grow up It's stuck at the gametophyte stage. Here's a chart explaining a fern's life cycle:



Now that the plant is fairly well-established in the hobby, I think it's time we give it a proper common name. I'm aware that in some circles, it's known as "Round Pellia". But that's a silly name because the plant is neither a Pellia nor the leaves always round.

Wright Huntley, our chief Bloviator suggested "Baby Fern" and "Rocker Fern". Actually, I like "Rocker Fern". The name implies that just like the fern gametophyte, rockers grow old but they don’t grow up - which is an accurate observation, I must say. Just as an aside, you may like to know Time magazine suggested that a better name for the aging members of "The Rolling Stones" (Mick Jagger & company) should be "Strolling Bones" The name “Rocker Fern” is most apt but I suspect not many would understand the wit behind the name.

So I asked the professor and he suggested "Loma Fern". I googled for Loma and apparently, among other things, there's an insurance company, a town and a university with that name. But I suppose Loma Fern for Lomariopsis lineata is far more appropriate than "Round Pellia". Wouldn't you agree?

Loh K L

<<-- Part X......Part XII-->>

[RC]

Hi, Kwek Leong.

Once again a great post and addition to "Mosses & the men who love them".

Plagiominium sp. looks like such an awesome moss and I too think that "Loma Fern" is much more of an appropriate common name for Lomariopsis lineata, but it seems that "in some circles" the name Pellia is given to anything that remotely resembles a liverwort.

Let's hope that "Loma Fern" catches on.

[Martin]

I take it that Loma fern, is Süsswassertang? OR is it too early for my eyes still?

I'd like to suggest that you elaborate more on the use of the different mosses described. By that I mean whether or not the moss can grow aquatic.

I may have a moss, a Plagionium, I'll have to send you.... hmmmmm....

[timebomb]

I take it that Loma fern, is Süsswassertang?

Yes, it is the same plant, Martin. I'm sorry I forgot to mention its German name, Süsswassertang.

I would do what you suggested with future posts but as we have seen with a few aquarium mosses - sometimes, they grow well in our tanks even though they aren't aquatic mosses. The Erect Moss, Singapore Moss and Taiwan Moss are just a few mosses that are not known to be aquatic in nature, according to the professor. But hey, they continue to thrive in our tanks
In any case, from what I've seen in the last few years, informing hobbyists that a moss is non-aquatic is not going to stop them from trying to grow the moss in their tanks

Loh K L

[Martin]

this is true.. :-)

perhaps a 'supposedly non aquatic'

Erect moss I thought had been shown NOT to grow under water?

so many had it die?

did I miss something?

[timebomb]

Erect moss I thought had been shown NOT to grow under water?

so many had it die?

did I miss something?

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, Martin but no one can say for sure the Erect Moss (Vesicularia reticulata) cannot grow under water. Yes, I'm aware that everywhere in Singapore, the Erect Moss has turned brown and died but quite a few hobbyists living in other countries have no problems keeping the moss alive in their tanks. As far as I know, Mr Moss (Dennis) of the USA and Armin who lives in Poland are just 2 hobbyists who still have the Erect Moss in their tanks. There could be many others.

Why the moss turns brown and die in Singapore tanks is still a mystery.

Loh K L

[fish newb]

Nice post Loh, been busy this summer so I haven't been around much.

Nice write up, shows there are other crazy people out there as well!

What happened to the mosses I sent you?

-Andrew