'Absolutely magical': Rare glowing duo of tree frog and parasitic ghost fungus captured in otherworldly photo

A stunning image of a luminescent frog perched on a rare, glowing ghost mushroom has won the People's Choice award for the annual Beaker Street Science Photography ComPetition in Tasmania.

In the photo, a blue light reflects off the eyes and skin of a biofluorescent brown tree frog (Litoria ewingii) as it sits on a funnel-shaped ghost fungus (Omphalotus nidiformis), named after its eerie bioluminescent glow during the night.

Photographer Toby Schrapel captured the scene at a pine plantation in Tasmania after weeks of searching for the rare mushroom species. "When I first saw them together I thought to myself this is my chance to get something absolutely magical," Schrapel told Live Science in an email.

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The ghost fungus is a rare gilled mushroom native to Australia and Tasmania. They have thin structures called gills on the underside of the mushroom cap that are responsible for spore dispersal.

During the day, its trumPet-shaped body is white or pale brown, but at night, the mushroom's gills glow green thanks to a process called bioluminescence — a chemical reaction between enzymes and oxygen that produces light, in the same way fireflies' abdomens glow.

After weeks of searching for the elusive ghost mushroom, Schrapel received a tip from a friend about a pine plantation at the Seven Mile Beach Coastal Reserve. "We were searching, searching and finally came across a little frog on a tree, so I stopped for a look and a quick shot, then I heard, 'Toby here's one on a mushroom,'" Schrapel recalled.