Strange "gunk" on top of my water lettuce

[charrold]

I have a new pond - built this year - that is doing very well. This forum has been a great help in discovering what exactly is going on when I see something happening, and up to now has covered it all so thanks to all who helped without knowing.

This morning when I went out to feed the gang I found some weird "gunk" for lack of a better description on top of one of the water lettuce. I would have dismissed it as just one of those plant things you find now and then if I had not found it on a few more plants. It looks kind of like a slug actually (it isn't I checked that) but it has what looks like seeds inside. Maybe just some seed pods from something nearby? We do have a lot of border plants that could have dropped something I guess.

Just wondering if anyone has seen this before? Everything is A-OK in the pond so I am not too concerned, but it is starting to cool off here in CO so I want to be sure since we are going into a new phase of the cycle for the pond.

 

[leeannecastro]

My water lettuce does not have that, but it will die in the fall. This may be the beginning of that.
Where in CO are you? If you are higher up, it may change things.

 

[poodles-ponds and gardens]

Are the seeds arranged in a pattern/order or are they just random? Are the objects soft or hard? If the seeds are in a random pattern, could it be droppings from some kind of critter? I found something the other day next to my pond, gray in color, slimey and looking very much like a slug, but it obviously was some kind of animal scat.:banana: I didn't inspect it close enough to tell if there were seeds inside, but many animals eat fruits and berries with seeds:

 

[DrDave]

Why don't you set your camera on Macro and take a picture for us???

 

[charrold]

I will try and take a picture of it - the "scat" angle I had not thought of, but could be the case.

Leeann - I am in Highlands Ranch so about 6k in elevation or so and I am going to pull a couple of plants in for the winter (WL and Hyacinth) since they will all bite it as soon as it gets cold...

I will get a picture later on today.

Thanks all.

 

[Meekaboo]

Occassionally, when I'm feeding my fish, pieces of food will land on the leaves of my water lilies. After these pieces of food have sat for a while they form a gelatinous mass. It looks slimey and thick. Could this be the cause of your strange 'gunk'?

 

[DrDave]

This is why I use floating feeding rings. No lost food to the floating plants and the Koi know where to go for food.
Mine are waiting for me there at 5:00 every day.

 

[koikeepr]

i'm thinking it's bird poop from the descrip. Of course, that would contain seeds...