QUOTE

"—" why the emdash?

It indicates abrupt insertions or parenthetical ones of more germane register than those in parentheses. Are you saying I should use the en-dash instead or reduce its usage?

QUOTE

"Gekkotan" is highly obscure jargon. I recommend "gecko-like".

Perhaps, but I wanted to use higher-register language here, and it was perhaps influenced by a time I remember in the early days of the project when the usage of "-like" was frowned upon, influenced by the aversion to Earth-likeness at the time.

QUOTE

Have the mammary glands disappeared entirely? It doesn't seem as if there would be a cost to vestigial structures.

As of this revision, they have, though vestigial, non-functioning mammary glands could remain if that's more reasonable.

QUOTE

I see it has a huge breadth of Carpozoan hosts. While many parasites are host-specific (e.g., elephant t ticks sheep keds), some, like black-legged ticks, hav a broad variety of hosts. Even black-legged ticks have preferred hosts, though. Is its list of hosts ranked in preference?

Yes, sort of, with the mesotherms on the trailing end of the list. There is no order of preference in the endothermic hosts. It only targets medium-to-large hosts of any carpozoan endotherm or mesotherm. It avoids small hosts closer to its size.

Soricinus (Soricinus derpovampyrocastorops)

Creator: Giant Blue Anteater
Ancestor: Lazarus Soriparasite
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Dixon-Darwin High Grassland, Darwin Alpine, Darwin Temperate Woodland, Darwin Chapparal, North Dixon Alpine, South Dixon Alpine, Verserus Alpine, Raptor Volcanic
Size: 4 cm long females, 3 cm long males
Diet: Hematophage (Medium-to-large, endothermic or mesothermic carpozoans; Short-Necked Shrew, Neoshrew, Treehook Tamow, Pickaxe Tamow, Tigmow, Tigmadar, Stink Shrew, Montemsnapper, Twigfisher Shrog, Twineshrog, Skewer Shrog, Disasterxata, Mothhead, Valley Constrictor, Guangu, Long-Tailed Flunejaw, Dinotuga)
Respiration: Active (lungs)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm (basking, host's body heat)
Support: Endoskeleton (bone)
Reproduction: Sexual (male and female, live birth)

The soricinus split from its ancestor, the Lazarus soriparasite. At half the size of its ancestor, it has underwent a series of adaptations that improve this species's blood-sucking efficiency—with vampiric precision, and has made it the second-ever shrew species to forgo milkfeeding.

Instead of latching with teeth and scraping with a tongue, the soricinus now takes a modified pair of front teeth and punctures the site like a hypodermic needle, with the tongue then moving in and out to break the skin and create a draw into the mouth via capillary action with some aid of cheeks that cover the whole mouth, all made possible with the bottom lip in tandem with the puncturing teeth creating a tube. Much akin to its ancestors, analgesic saliva is utilized to avoid being felt by the host. As it enjoys its blood meal, the soricinus maintains its position on its host with wider, flatter feet and a flatter pad on the forelimb digit, which also now bears gekkotan setae, in tandem with the shorter but stronger and darker claw.

Once the more-elastic stomach, like a vampiric blood balloon, has fully inflated, the soricinus remains attached to the host until knocked off—if it wasn't devoured beforehand. In that situation, while buoyed by its gastric reserve of blood, it must still find a new host. As no amount of pain-soothing saliva is sufficient to avoid that of most small shrews like the opportunity shrew—which would doubtlessly seize the opportunity presented in such the soricinus bold or desperate enough to tackle hosts not much larger than itself—it obligately seeks out medium-sized to large carpozoan hosts. Proportionally larger eyes (and not to speak of the smaller two pairs having completely disappeared) help the soricinus resolve greater detail in discriminating host size. Aiding the endeavor of host-finding is an enhanced sense of smell, with the mucosal tissue of the nose lined with a multitude ridges through which air passes, giving this parasite a detailed olfactory picture of all the possible hosts nearby. As it targets mesothermic or, preferentially, endothermic hosts for warmth—especially vital for when it comes time to hibernate—a novel, heat-sensing pit that formed in the distal cleft of the nostrils had come to the assistance to ensure that this preference is satisfied to boost its metabolic performance and to ensure it doesn't freeze to death in the winter.

Elastic as the stomach is compared to the ancestral condition, it is even more elastic in females. So filled with blood the female becomes that her back begins to arch as the stomach starts to occupy up to a half of the body in order to satisfy the other half: an equally voluminous uterus carrying up to half a dozen embryos that gestate during the winter to be born in the spring. What makes the soricinus stands out from other soriparasites—and most shrews for that matter—is the fact that their offspring, born up to half a centimeter in length, emerge fully formed, ready for their first meal not of milk, but of blood—from the host. This newfound precociality has rendered mammary glands useless to the point of disappearing in this species, making this the second time ever in shrew evolutionary history in which lactation was lost.

---

NB: "Soricinus" is a blend of the root sori- and ricinus, Latin for "tick."

Description amended; it now only lives in Fermi.

The description was amended, and the picture has been updated reflecting how the haplotokes result in miniature adults rather than lithotrophic larvae since the coasts and the beaches they live near are non-ferruginous (or at least not as ferruginous as the habitats with rusty-red sand).

I just found that the Wind shrubite does not actually live in in the Wind Temperate Beach. Do you however think that the spores could be blown to other continents across oceans or should this be stuck to whatever continent it replaces its ancestor at?

The description has been updated with the new size, habitats, diet and with preferred capitalization.

Image updated.

QUOTE (MNIDJM @ Aug 5 2021, 09:29 AM)

Giant Blue Anteater, do you mind just throwing a slight view of the second horn? Just to make sure no one later on gets the wrong idea.

Sure, I'll get it done by tomorrow.

New habitats and two possible diets depending on size:

Habitat: Oz Temperate Coast, Maineiac Temperate Coast, Soma Temperate Coast, North Jujubee Temperate Ocean Sunlight Zone

Diet (2x): Larvaback, Krillpedes, Miniswarmers, Diamond Pumpgill, Floating Pumpgill, Metamorph Spinderorm

Diet (4x): Larvaback, Plump Gillfin, Diamond Pumpgill, Finback, Floating Pumpgill, Sardchovy, Gulperpump, Scuttleball Gillfin, Metamorph Spinderorm

I am now in the process of reworking its diet based on its new range, as well as a diet in the event it could only grow twice its ancestral size.

I know I procrastinated but I will change this to reflect that it its descended from speartooth seaswimmers from the Oz Temperate Coast tomorrow so the type limit can be satisfied.

QUOTE

Type?: 3/2 (Marine, Polar, Temperate)

This creature's biology makes it better suited for temperate regions, so to satisfy the type limit, I'm going to have to change its habitats, which will also mean adjusting what prey species it eats. It will have to descend from the Speartooth Seaswimmers in the Oz Temperate Coast.

QUOTE

Exception?: Maybe, need to determine if it meets qualifications.

What does this mean?

QUOTE

Capitalized correctly?: No

Are Sagan 4 common names not proper nouns? Is the convention of capitalizing every term in the itemized descriptors (like "Live Birth, Two Genders") ending?

QUOTE (OviraptorFan @ Jul 11 2021, 07:33 AM)

Dude, there is a big problem with your submission. The Gushlych only survives in the Maineiac Polar Beach and the Fermi Polar Beach. Those two biomes are not close to Barlowe or Hydro.

You're right, that is a big error on my part. Further, the fact that the sands aren't rusty red in either in its extant habitats like in Barlowe and Hydro would make a lithotrophic lifestyle harder for the haplotokes and larvae.

QUOTE (Coolsteph)

Getting on the dwellings of seafaring shrog (e.g., Seashrogs, Wolvershrog) ships can vastly increase an organism's potential range. Wolvershrogs do occur on the Maineiac Polar Beach habitat and Barlowe habitats. However, Barlowe Temperate Beach seems to no longer exist as of Week 26. You may have meant "Oz Temperate Beach". If this does get on Wolvershrog ships, you'll have to mention that, and ideally give it an explanation. You could make one of its hosts the Wolvershrog, since Wolvershrogs are Carpozoans.

The only way it could do that is if it hitched onto one swimming and got on to its nest that way, since its limb morphology would make them poor climbers. Alternatively, it could hitch onto Tilepillars to do the same from Fermi, like I did with the Shell-riding Shocker.

Haplotoke Gushlych (Erythroneustocroton synagosomaphorus)

Creator: Giant Blue Anteater
Ancestor: Gushlych
Habitat: Maineiac Polar Coast, Maineiac Polar Beach, Bumpy Polar Coast, Bumpy Polar Beach, Justin Polar Shallows, North LadyM Polar Ocean Sunlight Zone, North Jujubee Polar Ocean Sunlight Zone
Size: 6 cm long
Support: Unknown
Diet: Haemotroph (Carpozoan blood)
Respiration: Unknown
Thermoregulation: Unknown
Reproduction: Sexual, budded haploid bodies, one gender

The Haplotoke Gushlych has split from the Gushlych in the Maineiac continent. It owes its name to a new, revolutionary reproductive mechanism: it now reproduces sexually. Rather than budding larval clones of itself, the same organ responsible for this activity instead engages in meiotic activity that buds spherical, multicellular haploid bodies that, once expelled, must come in contact with another haploid mass. When this happens, the two haploid bodies then fuse together to form a diploid organism, which is a miniature version of the adult form. These haploid bodies shall be named haplotokes. These are released during the summer spawning season, with the juveniles forming from them feeding alongside the adults during the fall before all migrating closer to the shore, burying themselves during winter hibernation.

The result of this sexual revolution is greater variation in the offspring, with the more successful variants being able to distribute their favorable traits throughout the entire population as opposed to flying asexually blind into the next generation hoping the next cohort can adapt to the circumstances of its world.

This has supercharged evolutionary change—among of which is the transformation of the legs into swimming flippers, lined with setae to push against water more viscous at its size, with the three digits on each foot moving to the underside, being useful only for grasping terrain returning to the water, with the result of all of this being that this species is mainly aquatic as opposed to its ancestor. Additionally, the spines along its back become modified into makeshift dorsal fins, enabling greater stability. The abdominal segment becomes flattened and spade-like, likewise giving the organism further stability. The mandibles, in addition to allowing a degree of steering, grasp the skin of the host when the organism rams its rostrum into it. This is then followed by a retractable proboscis piercing the skin, sliding in like a hypodermic needle to draw blood. The proboscis is curved in shape, enabling the organism to remain hooked to the host's skin until sated. This organism feeds exclusively on carpozoan blood, as it is more compatible biologically than anipede blood.

What's more, this species's penchant for carpozoan blood has led it to a particular warm host: the wolvershrog, latching onto swimming individuals then traveling with them back to their nests strewn across the North Jujubee and LadyM Polar Oceans before detaching itself, crawling off the deck and then swimming off. This has enabled it to spread from beyond Maineiac, becoming such the parasitic nuisance all across Sagan 4's north polar waters below the North Sagan 4 Ice Sheet.

There is now a set number of chemoreceptive patches used to locate hosts, which is eight on each side of the head, adding up to sixteen patches per organism.

Tidal Shrubite (Australospira amphibia)

Creator: Giant Blue Anteater
Ancestor: Wind Shrubite
Habitat: Fermi Polar Beach, Fermi Temperate Beach
Size: 30 cm to 160 cm tall
Support: Silica and calcium carbonate shell
Diet: Planktovore
Respiration: Passive (via pores on the top and bottom sections)
Thermoregulation: Unknown
Reproduction: Sexual, haploid airborne spores, one gender; fragmentation

The tidal shrubite has replaced the Wind shrubite in the Fermi Contienent and thanks to its novel mode of reproduction and more flexible, amphibious lifestyle, it has spread to the temperate regions as well. Instead of the fragmentary budding of the narrow top section from its ancestor, it has not only regained the ability to produce proto-spores, but also produces them such that they are haploid, and must combine with another haploid proto-spore to form a new individual. These proto-spores shall be termed haplospores.

This reproductive innovation, in addition to increasing their range, has resulted in favorable traits becoming distributed throughout the populations of this species, rapidly speeding up evolutionary change versus its asexual ancestor. Among these: its body is now divided into three sections: the broad, porous lower base that collects microbes during high tide (consumed via phagocytosis); a solid, narrower middle section; and a narrower still, porous upper section where haplospores are released into the wind. The pores of both the top and bottom sections are capable of gas exchange.

As the water has proven to be a more reliable source of food as opposed to the air, the tidal shrubite has taken advantage of this fact by specializing in feeding only on microplankton that washes up against its feeding base. The size of the organism is dependent on how closely it has settled to the water in its littoral habitat, with the result being that larger organisms collect more microplankton during high tide than smaller ones. These individuals also need to be able to release haplospores above the water, as they do not travel as far submerged.

Due to the new mechanism of feeding, it no longer encases its prey in its shell to grow, and instead grows out from the center from the day of its conception, distributing shell-building materials throughout its body as it grows, ensuring it not only receives a constant supply of food and other nutrients whenever available, but also gasses. It incorporates both silica and calcium carbonate into its shell.

Like its ancestor, the tidal shrubite still has an end-summer mating season where the haplospores are released, followed later by a long winter hibernation period. To avoid freezing to death, it utilizes an antifreeze protein that keeps the cytoplasm of its cells fluid even while surrounded by rock-solid ice, ensuring the organism's survival through the long polar winter.

QUOTE (colddigger @ Jul 4 2021, 11:00 PM)

Have pupa or their equivalent developed more than once on earth?

It appears not, since holometabolous insects (which undergo complete metamorphosis from larva to pupa to adult) form a monophyletic clade (Endopterygota), which means the occurrence of a pupal stage indeed evolved only once.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Disgustedorite.

QUOTE

Parasitoid: A species that feeds off or uses another creature, at its expense, for an extended period of time before killing it.

This definition is not entirely accurate; a parasitoid is an organism which lives parasitically in the first part of its life history before living the remainder of it free-living (examples: wasps, nematomorphs, Xenomorphs), and this does often result in the death of the host.

Wiktionary offers a better definition.

QUOTE (Wiktionary)

Any organism that is parasitic during part of its life cycle, especially one that eventually kills its host.

QUOTE (Disgustedorite)

Didn't you make a "giant red anteater" for Snaiad?

I did, and C.M. Kosemen canonized it, but as a basal predator.

QUOTE (Coolsteph)

Is "insectivore" really allowed as a dietary term when there are technically no insects on Sagan 4? Wouldn't Omnivore ([prey species], Xenobee honey, fruits of the following: [fruit species]" work? Strictly speaking, "fruits of the following" has never been used before, but it's all fruits in sequence, so saying "[species] fruit, [species] fruit" would get repetitive.

"Insectivore" seems to be a shorthand for eating fauna at the level of insects in terms of size and ecological niche for the lack of a taxon-neutral term for this kind of diet. If this remains an issue, "omnivore" could technically work, though these fruits are supplementary, making this species, strictly speaking, a hypocarnivore.

The typo was corrected.

QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Jul 4 2021, 09:22 AM)

P.S. Did you make this just so there would be a "giant blue anteater" fauna?

No, it's more that I just wanted to make a giant-anteater-type species. I anticipated it being purple rather than green like the Snoofloo before TheBigDeepCheatsy suggested that it could be indigo since that would blend in better with its floral surroundings. The fact that it turned out as a "giant blue anteater" is a coincidence.

Gruesloo (Cornutamandua indigo)

Creator: Giant Blue Anteater
Ancestor: Snoofloo
Habitat: Darwin Plains, Darwin Chapparal, Darwin Temperate Forest
Size: 1.8 m long
Diet: Insectivore (Trailblazer, Gamergate Gundis, Treedundi, Whiskrugg, Vermees, larvae and honey of Xenobees), Frugivore (fruit of Fruiting Grovecrystal, Quhft, Scrubland Quhft, Tubeplage, Scrubland Tubeplage, Boreal Tubeplage, Feroak, Hengende, Fuzzpile, Quilbil, Gecoba Tree, Bristlepile), Photosynthesis
Respiration: Unknown
Thermoregulation: Unknown
Reproduction: Sexual, Live Birth, Two Genders

The Gruesloo has split from the Snoofloo and has spread to the Darwin Temperate Forest. Aside from being twice the size of its ancestor, it has changed its color from a bright, conspicuous green to a darker, subdued indigo that matches with its surroundings, making it harder to spot by predators. These bluish pigments overlay their chlorophyll, which is still capable of photosynthesis, but to a lesser degree.

In the event it is spotted and approached, the Gruesloo brandishes its claws, which have become larger and sharper and can inflict grevious wounds on the aggressor if it refuses to back down. The claws' sharpness is maintained by the fact that it no longer walks on its palms, but on its knuckles. Of course, this would mainly benefit their primary function: tearing deep into the nests of Trailblazers, Gamergate Gundis, and Treedundis, as well as the logs and wooden flora where they may reside.

To seek them out, the tip of its sticky green tongue sticks out, seeking chemical cues for its favored eusocial prey. Since they lack teeth, gastroliths are present in the stomach to break down its meal as the stomach churns. But this species's diet is by no means limited to insectivory, for they can also eat the fruits of various species of flora, such as the Fruiting Grovecrystal, whose polygonal fruits it breaks open with its claws to then lap up the sweet, soft, spory innards. However, these supplement its primary diet, as the majority of its protein intake comes from its faunal prey.

The antlers above the eyes grow even larger in males, whose function is solely for advertising fitness. Males, therefore, do not butt heads with these. Instead, they battle against each other much more brutally: they rear up and attempt to break the antlers off each other's heads, for females will refuse to mate with those without. Countering this are large, forward-pointing cheek horns that cut into the arms of both contestants, making their struggle for dominance a test of not only strength but also the endurance of pain and injury. The winner of this duel will have access to the local herd of females. The hornless loser will have to wait for his horns to grow back, for if he insists on mating a female anyway, her reception will be as clear as the sharpness of her claws.

The Gruesloo no longer digs burrows, and instead rests in the foliage it can blend in with. The males lord over small, loose herds of females who sleep together, but are otherwise solitary.

QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Jun 25 2021, 05:42 PM)

"Moderate sized" should be "moderately-sized".

There is no hyphen after any adverb ending with -ly since that suffix already modifies the next word—no hyphen needed. So it would be "moderately sized."

Suggested changes implemented.

Icehog (Pachyleucophis choerops)

Creator: Giant Blue Anteater
Ancestor: Emperor Seaswimmer
Habitat: North Sagan 4 Ice Sheet
Size: 3.5 m long
Support: Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet: Carnivore (adults: Bejeweled Emperor Scylarian, Needlenose Scylarian, Vicious Seaswimmer; juveniles: Charybdis, Redbone Gilltail, Speckled Spinderorm, Hanging Necarrow)
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Homeotherm
Reproduction: Sexual, Live Birth, Two Genders

Replacing its ancestor, the Emperor Seaswimmer, in the North Sagan 4 Ice Sheet, the Icehog's unique traits were driven by the intense competition for food with the scylarians. Evolving a purely white coloration matching that of the polar ice, it not only gained an upper hand against them—as the species grew bigger, it has come to eat the competition as a primary food source. Inheriting the ambush tactics of its ancestor, the Icehog lies low in wait near masses of ice for scylarians or the Vicious Seaswimmer to pass by before quickly rising up, capturing them unawares. As a more fusiform body, powered by a hypocercal caudal fin, rushes towards the quarry, stabilizing it in this pursuit is a pair of large canine teeth that project to the side, rudimentarily acting as fins. As these teeth angle downward from their upper jaw, they also function in restraining and wounding the prey item as it's being held in the mouth.

It retains monogamy from its ancestor. Taking advantage of the vibration-sensitive fatty bulge in their lower jaw, mated pairs establish their territory with low-rumbling calls that aren't so much heard as they are felt. Unpaired females make slightly higher-frequency rumbles to attract males. Predictably, there will be a lot of takers. To compete for the female, males aggressively rumble at each other, with the meeker ones usually backing down. The bolder ones, however, will try to gash their obstinate opponents with their front tooth. This will leave scars, but they are never life-threatening due to this species's thick blubber. In fact, larger males can bear numerous scars, a testament to their endurance as they simply wait out their smaller, younger rivals' aggression until they become exhausted and swim away.

It gives birth to fewer offspring, maximally up to two at a time (and, in rare cases, three). However, not only are they larger than the Emperor Seaswimmer's, they strike out on their own, aided by their white coloration blending in with the ice, being harder to detect by either predator or prey.

Becoming further adapted for its frigid domain, it is now an true homeotherm, maintaining a constantly warm body temperature, which is insulated by the thick layer of blubber inherited from its ancestor. This metabolic enhancement, further bolstered by the atmospheric oxygen it breathes, gives it a greater advantage over its prey, being able to move faster despite the cold polar water of its habitat.

QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Jun 17 2021, 09:24 AM)

"one of its arm" should be "one of its arms".

Fixed. However...

QUOTE

"unimpededly" I do not think that is a word.

It absolutely is a word, for it's a valid construction in English that conveys a meaning with its suffixation. Spellcheck doesn't even single it out, unlike "omnivory," which is also a word. Compare "belatedly."

QUOTE

Is that pattern on its back due to being underwater, or an actual pattern?

Admittedly, it does look like the reflections of the perturbation of the water surface, but that's actually scales inherited from the ancestor.

QUOTE

I'm not sure exactly how its electrical production works, and therefore how plausible having a shocking grasp is.

They work the way described in the Electro Mudswarmer; each spike has either a positive or negative charge and a circuit is closed when more than one is touched. How these charges are produced, however, is also beyond me.

QUOTE

The Greengill had a physiology problem, though, which hasn't been corrected yet. If the Greengill's not part of any organisms' diet, it would be easier to decanonize it or wipe it out with a plague, if necessary (though those are extreme measures that I don't think will be needed). In any case, including the Greengill might slow down the Shell-riding Shocker's approval speed, since it's dependent on the Greengill problems being fixed.

Wouldn't it be inconsequential whether or not the Greengill is decanonized or otherwise removed since this species has about a dozen other options for food where the Greengill's and its ranges overlap?

QUOTE

Feel free to make the Caliga extinct: its artwork is the ugliest official artwork I've ever submitted. If there's ever an official-art re-do option, I'll do that one first.

Are you suggesting I make the Caliga extinct through this species's predation?

Shell-riding Shocker (Swimmyshocksr enkiremusaurobates)

Creator: Giant Blue Anteater

Ancestor: Carnivorescooter

Habitat: Krakow Polar Shallows, Coldigger Polar Coast, Fermi Polar Coast, Fermi Temperate Coast, Wind Temperate Coast, Dass Temperate Coast, South Jujubee Temperate Ocean Sunlight Zone, South Jujubee Polar Ocean Sunlight Zone, South LadyM Temperate Ocean Sunlight Zone, South LadyM Polar Ocean Sunlight Zone

Size: 60 cm long

Diet: Carnivore (Snatcherswarmer, Urmelia, Red Echofin, Imprisoned Wolley, Sheltered Gilltail, Follower Gilltail, Clarke Cleaner Echofin, Burrowing Quid, Chunky Zoister, Bloister, Fan Bloister, Flamboyant Fan Bloister, Gillarill, Greengill, Marine Fraboo, Featherbelly Foi, Sticky Urphish, Gray Muckraker, Scorpioraker, Hitchhiker Scuttler, Scuttlers; juvenile Sanddigger Seaswimmer, Bubbleweed Seaswimmer, Caliga, Uksip Lazarus, Seafin, Ocean Scorpodile, Clawbiter, Shaillor, Marine Arthrofin, Marine Bubblepede, Marine Filtersquid, Thornback Waterworm), Photosynthesis

Respiration: Unknown

Thermoregulation: Unknown

Support: Unknown

Reproduction: Sexual, two genders, spawning

The Shell-riding Shocker split from its ancestor, the Carnivorescooter. The lengthening of its limbs followed with the reduplication of the two digits in the Seascooter made way for another innovation: the evolution of jointed arms with opposing digit pairs capable of grasping prey in a vise-like grip. Moreover, due to a series of mutations, the digits now sport claws of the same material makeup as the spines lining its back, enabling this species to pin its prey into its grasp. These new adaptations move this species into strict carnivory from the facultative omnivory of its ancestor.

As an obligate carnivore, it utilizes a number of hunting strategies to catch its quarry, the vast majority of which take place near the sea floor. Utilizing a twin, split pupil in its single eyeball (which became sunk into the head, providing better streamlining), it examines very closely movement and patterns in the sand that stand out. Once detected, it will slowly swim—propelled by a weak, rudimentary tail—towards the prey item. It will then slowly reach with one of its arms. When felt, the prey item will be grabbed with its clawed, vise-like hand, and it will predictably resist.

This is then dealt with using a shocking new adaptation: as the spines lining the back shock potential predators, so do the claws for potential prey; when a resisting victim is grasped, it is shocked to immobilization or even death before being ripped apart by the numerous sharp teeth lining the mouth and devoured. When and whether this is used depends not only on how vigorous the prey's movements are, but also its size, for easy pickings like the Urmelia are simply grabbed and chomped.

Occasionally, it behaves as a pursuit predator, breast-stroking towards fleeing fast prey, then attempting to snatch them and shock them. It will even go as far as reaching inside other organisms to catch them; when pursuing a Sheltered Gilltail during crepuscular hours, for example, it will pursue them all the way to their home Crusicruge, reaching inside to grab and shock it. This, however, also takes the life of the Crusicruge itself, though that matters nothing to this predator as it scarfs down its prize.

The electrocuting claws are not the only thing that makes this species terrifying. The claws also benefit this species by enabling them to hold onto surfaces—namely, the shells of Tilepillars. Individuals can hitch rides on the backs of mature Tilepillars, carrying them wherever they go, including to the temperate coasts as they undertake their reproductive migrations. The result is a greatly expanded range where they exercise their electrifying reign of terror over the benthic, benthic-adjacent and burrowing organisms throughout. Armed with their defensive spines starkly advertised with a bright, equally electric shade of blue by the membrane binding them, they unimpededly carry out their rampage through Sagan 4's southern temperate and polar coasts and shallows, spreading like bright blue, aquatic wildfire.

---

NB: The folds along this creature's neck are just that, and are not gills. Nuevolución inexplicably added what appeared to be gills past the Carnivorescooter's mouth, so I interpreted them here as neck folds as the creature bends its neck towards its Imprisoned Wolley victim, which it is shocking.