Everglades Snow (periphyton algae)

[Rob Stevens]

    What is the scoop with periphyton algae? I had the opportunity to observe it closely for a couple of days a few weeks ago.  Where I was observing it it was high and "dry". This was an area I thought was affected by seasonal water and not tides. It didn't look to me like a plant that was going to do well drying in the sun.  The algae was damp so I figured there must be a tide where we were but being able to observe it  for two days it was clear there was no tide. The wind had been strong out of the north for a while.

   Another odd thing was I kept finding inch long fish flopping in the mud which I also wondered what was the evolutionary process going on with that?

   I guess my question is how long does periphyton algae survive out of the water? I would guess it depends on factors such as temperature and wind.

   My other guess is if you come across a non tidal area with periphyton algae high and "dry"  for whatever reason its an indication the water is a bit on the low side.

[yakmaster]

come back in a few months, once the real dry comes,  and that periphyton will be like cornflakes. Just crunching underfoot. & when the rains come, life goes on...

As for the fish, something will eat it

[Terry]

The fresher the water the worse it is and it's worse in the warmer months, clearing out as it gets cool.

The ponds in the Jungles are thick with it more than I can remember and that may be

because it stayed warm longer into the season.

[Keith W]

Periphyton is an important indicator of ecosystem health, and is an ecosystem unto itself that provides shelter and moisture for many small critters that live in and under the mats during the dry season.

http://www.nps.gov/bicy/naturescience/periphyton.htm

[Rob Stevens]

Keith- Thanks for the link on periphyton. The way I read it periphyton is only a freshwater organism. Is this true? Will it survive in brackish water? Yakmaster, as for the fish I was surprised they were flopping around drawing attention to themselves because as you say something will eat it. Truth be told I suspect the fish might have been squished out of the mud soup as we passed which would explain their flopping around. I would flip it into the mud soup and prayed that was the right thing to do because I myself would not like to be flipped into mud soup. To see what that would be like please read "There's a Hair in My Dirt" by Gary  Larson. (Farside cartoonist)