Megaorthoceros Circumorphos

Megaorthoceros circumorphos split from megaorthoceros segnoneustes thanks to a strange, usually rare mutation in some individuals. This manifested itself in the inability for budded individuals to always break off eventually, leading to instances involving one or both of an individual segnoneustes' offspring to remain permanently attached. If these new individuals also passed on the trait, they too were able to keep their offspring, leading to even longer groups clustered together. It was these groups that led to the eventual creation of the circumorphos.

The colony is positioned in a circular pattern, with each megaorthoceros spread an equal distance from the others. They continue to utilize their fin-like extensions to turn themselves, but their tails have little to no use as of yet, as they are stuck in the middle of the colony. While they haven't atrophied from lack of use yet, they do not see as much action as they once did. Instead, all individuals on the side act together to paddle in the direction that the "leader' chooses that they go. Because their bodies are still attached, signals can be relayed between each member to allow this to run relatively smoothly.

Females continue to be detrivores; when they come across a food item of their liking, the "leader" will typically feed first. After her, they will turn (some colonies turn clockwise while other turn counter-clockwise, although there is no true reason behind this action, and is not personal preference), and the next in line will feed. This process continues until each individual has had her fill, and at this point they will continue on.

Males however are also similar to their ancestor's designs, and are free-swimming. In fact, they are only distinguishable from their ancestors by a small cluster of very fine cilia at the end of their proboscis. This cilia patch is sensitive to pheromones released by a female, but these pheromones are in fact only released should the adjacent female on one of her flanks has perished through old age or injury. This is because a female will then signal for males, while her and the other female that also flanks the dead member will absorb the dead one's nutrients into themselves. Whichever female starts her new offspring first will then release a second pheromonal scent that will stop the other female from continuing with her budding process, and she will absorb any potential amount of an offspring she has also begun to create in order to keep from wasting precious energy. A small amount of each male's genetic code will be used in the creation of the next new female, although if the current female has too many males attached inside of her, some males' genetic material may be wasted through lack of use.

Males exist in packs of a few hundred members known as clouds. Like their ancestors, they are born from females who are only half their maximum size, and are spit out by her. They are unable to breed with this female as she is not yet sexually mature. Typically, all individuals in a cloud are from the same birthing, but they are not territorial in the least, and naturally seek each other out for protection against minute predators. However, once the female's pheromones are sensed, it becomes an "every megaorthoceros for themselves" race to her proboscis. Males also release a scent by suddenly excreting all of their chemical "food" they have recently consumed. Once a female has sensed this, she stops sucking up males and continues on. Females may only take a certain number of males until they will just rely on the males already in their proboscis to create new females for the colony.