Large gelatinous blobs appearing in US ponds, lakes, and rivers are colonies of the bryozoan Pectinatella magnifica. The colonies are composed of thousands of tiny animals called zooids that stick together to form a soft, squishy mass, sometimes growing as large as a human brain. The structures are fragile, partly built with calcium carbonate that gives a transparent, sponge-like texture. Bryozoans capture plankton and help clean slow-moving freshwater, and they do not carry viruses. Sightings are most common in late summer and early fall. In the fall the colonies produce tiny seed-like statoblasts.
A wave of floating blobs has appeared throughout US waterways, leaving some swimmers and boaters fearful that these could be giant marine parasites. The gelatinous objects have been called 'cursed gummy bears,' 'mutant brains,' and even 'sci-fi nightmares,' as more and more people come across them in freshwater ponds, lakes, and rivers this summer. Despite growing to the size of a human brain, wildlife officials have said there's absolutely no cause for alarm. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), they're a colony of tiny creatures that form the magnificent bryozoan.
Moreover, the colony creatures don't carry a virus like other wildlife seen this year. Officials said they actually help keep America's waterways clean and healthy. 'These ancient creatures breathe life into freshwater, capturing plankton and cleaning the water as they drift in slow-moving rivers and lakes,' USFWS officials wrote in a Facebook post. Each zooid is smaller than a grain of rice. Thousands of these creatures build a soft, fragile structure using calcium carbonate, kind of like a delicate skeleton, that gives it a transparent look which feels like a squishy sponge or gummy candy.
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