You might have noticed it after sliding on a rock in a Melbourne creek. Or it could have been wading through a Northern Territory waterhole. It’s slime, and our rivers are full of it. That’s a good thing.
Wherever there are hard surfaces like snags and rocks in our rivers, you’ll find slime. Or, as ecologists call it, biofilm. Biofilms consist of communities of microorganisms that include algae, cyanobacteria, bacteria, fungi and protozoa. Together, they’re fixed in a matrix of natural polymers made by bacteria and other tiny creatures. It’s this matrix which gives the slippery, slimy texture we encounter when swimming in rivers.
