aureleah_aurita's Journal

Another tricky to ID shell can be the Common Atlantic Baby's Ear Sinum perspectivum or the similar Spotted Baby's Ear Sinum maculatum

Here is a forum post with lots of great comparison pictures:

I know of three pen shells here in NC.

Sawtooth pen shells Atrina serrata is the easiest to ID because it's the most ribbed (30 narrow riblets) and has hundreds of short hollow prickles (Witherington)

The other two are very hard to tell apart for me and I'm not sure many RG observations are correct because people don't realize there are two very similar species in the area.

First we have stiff pen shells Atrina rigida. My Audobon field guide says its 5-11 inches long with 15-20 radiating ribs. The upper ribs are large and bear "many erect, hollow, sometimes tubular spines"

The field guide goes onto say that the half-naked pen shell Atrina seminuda was formerly confused with A. rigida. It says the half-naked pen shell is "slightly smaller, thinner, more narrow, and lighter in color"

My beachcomber's guide says half-naked pen shells "have about 15 radiating ribs bearing few to dozens of long tubular spines"

The best way to ID those two that I know of requires pictures of the inside of the shell. The half-naked pen shell A. seminuda has the posterior muscle scar is "wholly within the pearly area" (FGS) and Witherington says it's "completely within the shiny (or cloudy) nacreous area"

The stiff pen shell A. rigida has a "large muscle scar protruding above edge of pearly layer" (FGS) and (Witherington) says in their words that the posterior muscle scar is "outside the shiny nacre"

I also wanted to note that the Beachcomber's Guide by Witherington and Witherington mentions their habitat and I wonder if that's useful in IDing as well. It says sawtooth and half-naked pen shells live in colonies out to 20 ft. It says stiff pen shells A. rigida live in bays and sounds.

In summary:

Stiff Pen Shell A. rigida
-Darker
-Boader
-Muscle scar outside of nacre
-15-20 ribs
-Lives from low-tide line to water 90' deep (Audubon FGS)
-Lives in bays and sounds (Witherington)

Half-naked pen shell A. seminuda
-Thinner
-Narrower
-Smaller muscle scar within nacre
-15 ribs
-Lives in colonies buried in soft sediment out to 20 ft

I never ID Aurelia to species because it's known to be difficult to ID without genetic sampling and I’m hesitant to make anything Research Grade if I’m not certain . But someone studying jellies ID’d an NC moon jelly observation as A. marginalis and I wondered if there was a way to ID Aurelia based on location alone and decided to write down my notes for moon jellies on here as well.

In 2009 Calder said A. aurita is boreal and only found north of Delaware and A. marginalis is found from Delaware to Florida.

But this paper from 2021 (which cites Calder, 2009) says the distribution of A. marginalis is the Gulf of Mexico and A. aurita can be found in Northeastern USA. North Carolina is uniquely situated at the base of the Labrador current as well as along the Gulf stream so we often have high biodiversity of species from each direction so I'm reluctant to say A. aurita can't be found here.

WoRMS also shows A. marginalis limited to the Gulf of Mexico

WoRMS also says A. aurita's distribution in the Northwest Atlantic is inaccurate ("Taxon was cited for this area but it is clear that it does not live there") and seems to only show it present in the Gulf of St Lawrence so I'm as lost as ever for my favorite jellies, which is my favorite place to be! It’s fun following these mysterious ocean creatures as we unravel all their mysteries!

12/11 Alright, once again I'm getting lost in the world of observations that are resistant to species level IDing.

This time it's the Russula genus of mushrooms, commonly called brittlegills. Once again a group notoriously difficult to ID to species with basic observation which is why I've never cared to try with my earlier Russula observations.

But the other day I found a big, gorgeous, specimen that seemed perfect to do a spore print with, and I wasn't expecting such vibrantly colored spores! I immediately tried to look up what species it could be but was frustrated at most turns. Ultimately, I was able to find a couple of resources to give me at least some options, although it's very difficult to find fungi information that isn't outdated since the field is developing at such a rapid pace.

Here's where I'm at with my quest to ID so far:

My first resource is always my field guide (Bessette, Bessette, & Hopping, 2018), but, like every other mushroom guide, it only has Russula emetica as a red capped Russula option, but that would have a white spore print.

Next, I looked at every red capped Russula specimen found in NC at the New York Botanical Garden's Steere herbarium to see if there were any matches

Ruled out:
Russula pusilla Peck I think this tends to be a lighter red cap and is small
Russula magna Beardslee - blackening russula
Russula rubescens Beardslee- blushing russula
Russula rosea/lepida has a cream colored spore print
Russula cinerascens has pale ochre print and duller cap that ages to olive
Russula uncialis has a white spore print and duller cap
Russula fragiloides Murrill has purpler cap
Russula sanguinea Fr. - unbruising red cap with orange-yellow spores= tempting, but the stipe tends to be notably red while mine are always white

Ones I couldn't rule out as easily:
Russula aciculocystis Kauffman ex Bills & O.K.Mill. Red cap and yellow spores found in the piedmont but described as maxing out at 5 cm. Stipe described as sometimes white but often tinted pink red brown or yellow- whereas mine are consistently white
Russula amygdaloides Kauffman- thick orange yellow spore print , but is also described as rarely red capped with a mild taste and yellow gills

Nothing seemed promising so I looked and looked and found another resource that seemed better than blindly looking through herbarium records.

I used this key to NC Russulas and arrived at Russula pungens (aka Russula rubra) which could be a potential match. Everything matches except for the mention that the flesh is red under the cuticle- for mine it's white. I'll try to taste one and see if it's as painfully acrid as described. I'm just not very brave to have done it initially. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll be brave enough to try at all, actually.
Other similar species from that key include:
Russula alutacea deep yellow spores (darker than pungens) with a solid stem and mild taste with "antimony" yellow gills, which seems too dramatic for this observation. this species is maybe the same as R. ochraphylla
Russula tenuiceps but it's blushing
Russula sanguina (spores lighter than pungens)
Russula atropurpurea has ochre spores, but a more purpley cap

Another species I'm considering based on similar appearance is Russula cystidiosa, red cap/white stipe, unbruising, but taste is mild, spore print is light/creamy, and Kuo says it's NJ to IL.

12/12 Update! I got another specimen near where I found this one and tasted it! It was spicy! Another puzzle piece! Waiting on a spore print to confirm its the same species.
I also went to pick another and the entire skin of the stipe pulled up with the cap, but it was entirely hollow bc larvae had taken over the insides. I feel bad removing a safe place for bugs to grow so I'll pick less of these as time goes on. I do think it's funny that its spicy though bc I saw on with a bite taken out of it a week or so ago. Funny how that animal didn't finish the whole thing. Regardless, I don't want to affect the ecosystem too much more than I have already in my pursuit of answers.