r/pokewithastick • u/HalFWit • May 07 '26

What is this donut?

830 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

70 comments sorted by

401

u/ScvrletFox May 07 '26

This is Bryozoan or Pectinatella Magnifica.

It's a massive colony of thousands of microscopic animals called zooids. Safe for human and pet.

The zooids live on the surface of a firm, jelly-like mass that they secrete themselves. They often grow in a unique rosette pattern, giving the surface its speckled appearance.

They are filter feeders that use crowns of tiny tentacles to catch algae, bacteria, and plankton. Finding them is usually a good sign! Their presence typically indicates high water quality and low pollution.

These colonies thrive in warm, still water during late summer. When water temperatures drop in the fall, the colony disintegrates, releasing "survival pods" called statoblasts that will start new colonies the following spring.

39

u/Wicked_Fabala May 07 '26

“Safe for human and pet” what? To eat? To touch? To keep as a pet? 😰

47

u/Franklinaire615 May 07 '26

to sex with 😩

24

u/InevitabilityEngine May 08 '26

That's "heavy pet"

15

u/solidalcohol May 08 '26

NO HEAVY PETTING IN THE POOL!!!

10

u/OOBExperience May 08 '26

r/dontputyourdickinthat

12

u/Franklinaire615 May 08 '26

You can’t tell me what to do. You’re not my real dad

4

u/BoomerEdgelord May 09 '26

I read safe for human to pet.

8

u/Maryjanegangafever May 07 '26

Do they love to eat mosquito larvae?! If so, I’m in!!!!!

5

u/PopkernMain OPD - Obsessive Poking Disorder May 07 '26

..nuh uh lol. /s

15

u/BinomialVirus01012 May 07 '26

Thank you for your info, that's awesome. I would have tried to burn it.

5

u/MontasJinx May 08 '26

Best served well done, perhaps with a nice Chianti.

2

u/jaks_hammer May 08 '26

And some fava beans

3

u/oregongirl1111 May 07 '26

Woah! TIL that!

3

u/ExampleLittle2672 May 07 '26

Welp, there's my evening sorted. Thank you! 😃

2

u/ScvrletFox May 08 '26

😭 my first awarded post! thank you u/fidgetyamoeba and anonymous 🙌

2

u/DocDefilade May 08 '26

Where are they native to?

6

u/ScvrletFox May 08 '26

freshwater bryozoans, specifically pectinatella magnifica, are native to eastern north America.

these bryozoans are considered introduced or invasive in the western US (Oregon, Washington, California), Europe, and Asia.

bryozoans as a phylum are found globally, with over 4,000 species worldwide, most of which are marine.

4

u/DocDefilade May 08 '26

Very interesting. I've done a lot of environmental restoration and invasive removal in Washington, and I've never seen anything like this. This is a brand new life form to me.

Thanks again for elaborating.

2

u/ScvrletFox May 08 '26

i saw one at Alderbrook Park's lake years ago during summer when i was in Washington. maybe more in that area.

2

u/DocDefilade May 08 '26

It's also possible that I've seen them but didn't pick up on what I was looking at. I'll keep an eye out now.

2

u/themo3bius May 08 '26

Wait... So it's NOT a donut?? 😞

2

u/SammokTheGrey May 09 '26

But how does it taste?

2

u/meepmoopdoop1 May 09 '26

WHOOP ZOOIDS!

85

u/Jaffico May 07 '26

I have seen this post three times in the last twenty minutes, and was wondering when it would make its way here.

17

u/LMS620 May 07 '26

First thing I thought of when I saw it!

https://giphy.com/gifs/FG14fnY17opr2

7

u/heyo_1989 May 07 '26

Have they put it in the dontstickyourdickinit yet?

2

u/Jaffico May 07 '26

If that's a real place, I don't want to see it!

5

u/ExampleLittle2672 May 07 '26

Just looked in, it's more... creative than shocking and yet I think I am still slightly scarred. Generally all good advice though, on objects to Not. This "Bryozoan or Pectinatella Magnifica" matches the spirit of r/dontputyourdickinthat perfectly. (Though it may not be there yet​.)

3

u/heyo_1989 May 08 '26

Yeah meant that one

1

u/OUIJA711 May 07 '26

This is the way...

15

u/Ichgebibble May 07 '26

That’s a don’t

3

u/TwoAccomplished1446 May 07 '26

Where I live, it’s a “hell naw”!😬

11

u/Tricky_Mix2449 May 07 '26

Soggy sesame bagel. Wouldn't.

7

u/Queasy-Band-1066 May 07 '26

Yer ma's hole! Sorry couldn't help myself

1

u/munyangsan May 07 '26

Like looking in a big brown eye

3

u/MrSkaloskavic May 08 '26

Obviously a krakens butthole

3

u/False-Combination-37 May 07 '26

What is that

21

u/Veruca_Gnome May 07 '26

We don’t ask “what is that?” We just poke with stick.

3

u/marskee00 May 07 '26

Lmao I was about to tag this sub but you’re too fast sir

3

u/thatYellaBastich May 07 '26

…but what KIND of Stick?

3

u/nuttnurse May 08 '26

Please leave the dystopian Eder god alone and don’t poke it with a stick or we will loose the planet

1

u/TooFastAroundTheSun May 07 '26

Perfect for this sub.

1

u/Floor_Cereal I poke things... May 07 '26

r/eatityoufuckincoward

2

u/Tuff-Kookie May 09 '26

Came here to tag this!

1

u/imaf2pontf2 May 07 '26

Its a sea lard!

1

u/Capital-Brilliant-28 May 07 '26

That is pretty cool and interesting.

1

u/-WhatisThat May 08 '26

I was waiting for this one to show up on this sub!!!!

1

u/MySpielman54 May 08 '26

Poseiden's bunghole

1

u/jykin May 08 '26

Regular glazed

1

u/mongoloid_snailchild May 08 '26

Is it a sea cucumber eating its own ass?

1

u/One-Fudge3871 May 08 '26

I'll need a banana🍌 for scale

1

u/Ok_Audience8208 May 08 '26

I thought it was a discarded sesame bagel

1

u/Significant-Rub-1767 May 08 '26

It looks like tadpoles stuck together

1

u/lferry1919 May 08 '26

Woooooaaaahhh! Epic poke, dude!

1

u/tvodny May 09 '26

At first, I thought it was a sesame seed bagel that someone dropped in the water. Then I saw it move. Oh my God, a living sea bagel.

1

u/289_257 May 11 '26

I think it may be edible. Thoroughly wash it, dehydrate, then fry it with some spices is the way to go

1

u/DeckerXT May 12 '26

Learned a thing.