“Found both of these in my bathroom sink one day” is all this reader states in her submission concerning the brown-red blobs pictured below. One of them looks like a flat triangle of reddish-brown goo, while the other one looks like it has more shape.

Unfortunately, the organisms our reader photographed are still too devoid of any characteristics for us to provide any sort of concrete identification. To us, they do look like lifeless blobs. Our best guess is that the more solid-looking one might be a pupa of some kind, and the moisture from the sink makes it look more slimy than it actually is. Or perhaps these really are just detritus from the sides of the pipes that came loose and surfaced to the sink.

It is difficult to know, especially without any context. It would have helped to know if these organisms were moving, if there were any visible orifices, and what state his bathroom was in.

Often, organisms will surface from people’s drains if they have not been cleaned for a long time. This is because a lot of organisms are attracted to stagnant water and/or decomposing organic matter. We recommend that our reader clean her drains regularly using boiling water and bleach (or some other cleaning agent). A simple way to do this is to pour boiling water down the drain, then pour the cleaning agent, and then pour boiling water again, with 10 minutes of waiting in between each step.

Now, if our reader is intent on getting an identification, then she might have better luck taking these organisms to her local county extension office. There, someone will be able to physically examine the organisms and so will have a better chance at identifying them.

To conclude, we do not know what the organisms that our reader found are. Given their lack of distinct characteristics, we would suppose they might be pupae, or some type of organic debris. If our reader wants us to have another go at identifying them, some more context would be helpful. Otherwise, taking the organisms to her local county extension office may prove more fruitful.

Summary

Article Name

Brown-red Blobs Found in Sink are an Unsolved Mystery

Description

"Found both of these in my bathroom sink one day" is all this reader states in her submission concerning the brown-red blobs pictured below. One of them looks like a flat triangle of reddish-brown goo, while the other one looks like it has more shape.

Author

Worm Researcher Anton