Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1988, Qupperneq 41

SUMMARY
False aquatic inoss balls
from Iceland
by
Ævar Petersen,
Icelandic Museum of Natural
History,
P.O. Box 5320,
125 Reykjavík
In 1969 false lake balls were found at
two freshwater lakes in NW Iceland (see
details of localities etc. in text). These
formations are, as far as I am aware,
previously unrecorded from this coun-
try. The balls were formed of moss,
mainly of Drepanocladus aduncus
(Hedw.) Warnst. and in one case D.
revolvens (Sw.) Warnst., but D. exannu-
latus (B., S. & G.) Warnst. in another
case. These moss species, which are pri-
marily wetland species rather than aq-
uatic, indicate the balls were formed
from moss falling into the water, perhaps
live at first, or as debris. They have then
been rolled up by water currents and
wave action. The moss balls were at dif-
ferent stages of development (Figs 1-2).
At a third locality, Helgi Hallgrímsson
found moss balls in a salt water lagoon in
N Iceland (Fig. 3). They are most likely
formed in the same manner, except the
principal moss species of the single ball
examined was Hygrohypnum ochraceum
(Wils.) Loeske, which is the most com-
mon moss species found in freshwater in
Iceland. Since no streams discharge di-
rectly into the lagoon, the moss must
have become detached and been carried
by nearby streams into the sea and then
floated with sea water into the lagoon.
Hence moss balls have been found
both in fresh and salt water in Iceland,
although these are the only records
known to the author.
35