This is a zoosporangium of Halophytophthora vesicula, a
eukaryotic mycelial decomposer that is an oomycote, not a fungus.
H. vesicula is found in coastal marine waters throughout the
world's oceans; its main source of food is leaves that fall into
seawater. This sporangium is full of mature zoospores, and just
about to go into release mode. The zoospores are released through
a balloon-like vesicle that is formed by eversion and expansion of
the inverted cone just inside the smaller end of the obovate
sporangium. The biflagellate zoospores escape to the outside
through a pore in the tip of the membranous vesicle, and then swim
away trying to find new substrates. Successful zoospores (i.e.,
those that hit, e.g., newly fallen leaves of red mangroves or live
oaks) will attach and germinate into hyphae that penetrate into the
solid substrate. This sporangium is of the most common,
"delicate", type; the
"robust" type (see also photo in Newell, 1996, J
Exp Mar Biol Ecol 200:187-206) is rare, and has a more
sturdy inverted-cone, pre-vesicle structure. These two types may
be inappropriately placed under the same binomial.