The common name, Marimo, is Japanese for "seaweed balls." The little green spheres are not actually moss, but algae. In their natural habitat, the algae balls live at the bottom of cold lakes.

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KUSHIRO, Hokkaido—“Marimo” moss balls, the fuzzy green spheres that have brought fame to Lake Akanko here, are shrinking because of global warming, a research group found. The maximum ...