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Dorite Coinstack (Cirrhodis oreinori)
Creator: Oceansky
Ancestor: Coinstacks
Habitat: Wast Dorite Tropical Undersea Meadow, West Dorite Reef, East Dorite Tropical Undersea Meadow, East Dorite Reef
Size: 4 cm tall colony, 12 μm cells
Support: Cytoskeleton
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: Aerobic
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Fragmentation, Binary Fission

Following a mass extinction event and Dorite being closed off from the rest of the ocean, a population of Coinstacks had been separated from the rest of their genus. Some of these eventually speciated to take better advantage of the now diminished number of phototrophs in the tropical waters of Dorite, and them being specialized for blue light and being hard to digest made it so that there wasn't much competition with other groups. Dorite Coinstacks descend from a tall, golden tropical species, and are now even taller, being twice the size of any Coinstack, and are wider at the bottom because of this. Colonies grow in numbers, often in the double digits. They can get away with this since they are hard to digest, and herbivores that try eating thoften end up spreading them instead due to the silicone resin covering their cell membranes.

Their root-like systems of cells are proportionately larger than their ancestor to extract more silica for their larger colonies, and these may also link up with other nearby Dorite Coinstacks, which allows them to communicate via specialized transportation cells adapted to transfer information from individual to individual. Two Dorite Coinstacks that are connected may be able to supply each other with sugars, silicone, other nutrients, and other things if one is in danger or low on resources. Like their ancestor, colonies may split up if they find themselves in undesirable conditions. This is rarer than with their ancestor, however, due to their connections, larger range of transportation cells, and the fact that they're generally hardier, and can't split up as easily. This is because the cells are more tightly linked together, however strong water currents can still tear them apart, but not without damaging them a bit. Photosynthetic cells are capable of living in their own and can swim via flagellum, however both kinds of transport cells rely on the photosynthetic cells to live, and are produced by photosynthetic cells reproducing at the base of the colony. Otherwise, they are mostly similar to their ancestors as somewhat cylindrical colonies of photosynthetic cells that produce sugars, have a group of colorless cells similar to roots, and are covered in silicone resin.

Image:

This is an underwater species, but the way the water is drawn makes it seem to be stylized little waves on the surface of the water glittering in the sun. It looks almost like the Coinstack and Shrewv are on a ledge overlooking the ocean.

Template:

“Exothermy” means something different. You meant “ectothermy”.


Description:

None of the meanings of “pushback” apply here. You probably meant “competition”.

“Colonies grow in numbers”: This is much easier to interpret correctly as “great numbers”.

“May often” This is semantically easier to parse as “often”. “May often” suggests multiple instances of spreading events, such as them often spreading Dorite Coinstacks and certain time periods and not in other time periods.

“However this is[…]” This sentence is awkwardly long, so it’s best to split.

“Colony reproducing”. The particular way this is phrased suggests they’re only produced when the colony itself reproduces. (e.g., “ocean blue” describes a ocean that is blue; “colony reproducing” describes a colony that is reproducing) Rearranging the words is the easiest solution: “when the photosynthetic cells at the base of the colony reproduce” is one way.

I've fixed everything regarding the text. I intended the background of the image to look like it's overlooking a Slope into deeper waters and there's light shining in from above, and I've also realized that the Shrewv is comically oversized.

I'll be editing the art to depict a colony of more accurately sized Shrewvs. If the background absolutely has to be changed, I'll see what I can do to make it look more like what I had imagined.

It doesn't look like it's overlooking a shelf into deeper waters because of the light blue color at the bottom. A blue to dark blue gradient starting from the middle would work better. Technically, if you wanted to make it absolutely clear it was underwater and deep enough to be at the continental shelf, you'd tint it to reduce the redness of the picture, because red doesn't penetrate far into the water. However, that level of precision may not be necessary.

I've edited it now, is it better? I've always drawn underwater scenes kind of like this, and this is the first time I've seen people say it looked more like a beach.

What I do is have there be a brown-to-blue fade indicating more distant ground fading into the water