vs Common Water Rat

Clitocybe subspadicea compared with Hydromys chrysogaster

Key Differences

• is Data Deficient while Common Water Rat is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		Common Water Rat
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Rodentia (Rodents)
Family	Tricholomataceae	Muridae (Mice & Rats)
Genus	Clitocybe	Hydromys
Species	Clitocybe subspadicea	Hydromys chrysogaster

Conservation Status

DD — Data Deficient

Common Water Rat

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute		Common Water Rat
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Common Water Rat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Clitocybe subspadicea is an agaric fungus in the family Tricholomataceae native to temperate European forests. The species epithet subspadicea indicates a date-brown or chestnut-brown coloration ('spadiceus' meaning date-brown in Latin), somewhat darker than the whitish or pale grey tones typical of many Clitocybe species, making it more readily distinguished in the field. It fruits in autumn on forest floors of deciduous and mixed woodlands, where it decomposes leaf litter and organic matter as a saprotrophic fungus. The cap is depressed to funnel-shaped, gills are decurrent and crowded, and the stipe is cylindrical and slender, following the typical Clitocybe growth form. The darker pigmentation may reflect production of melanins or other pigment compounds providing protection against UV radiation or desiccation during fruiting. Documentation of species like C. subspadicea through careful field work and herbarium specimens contributes to understanding the remarkable macrofungal diversity of European temperate forests, where hundreds of agaric species perform essential ecological roles in energy flow and nutrient cycling.

Common Water Rat

<em>Hydromys chrysogaster</em>, commonly known as the common water rat or rakali, is a semi-aquatic rodent in the family Muridae, native to Australia and New Guinea. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, reflecting its relatively stable population across a broad range of freshwater and estuarine habitats on the Australian continent and associated islands. The species typically inhabits the banks of rivers, lakes, wetlands, and estuaries, where it constructs burrows in streambanks. It is highly adapted for an aquatic lifestyle, with partially webbed hind feet, a flattened head, and a dense waterproof coat. <em>Hydromys chrysogaster</em> is a carnivore, typically feeding on fish, crustaceans, mussels, frogs, and aquatic invertebrates, which it often carries to elevated feeding platforms to consume. The species is nocturnal and crepuscular, most active during early morning and evening hours near the water's edge. Biological traits including average lifespan, body length, and weight remain poorly documented in standardized databases, though adults are generally robust for a rodent, reportedly reaching body lengths of 20–35 cm excluding the tail. Geographic range details for this particular record remain incompletely documented in available data sources. Ecologically, the common water rat is an important apex predator in small-scale freshwater food webs and serves as an indicator species for wetland health in Australian riparian systems.