Periscope Waterworm

The periscope waterworm has replaced its ancestor in Bumpy Polar Coast. With the loss of its main food source, it has adapted to the lifestyle of an ambush predator, allowing it to prey upon smaller organisms while avoiding predators at the same time. To accommodate it's new lifestyle, it's skull has grown into a wedge-like shape, allowing its eyes to peer over the sand it buries itself beneath. Its dorsal spines have entirely degenerated to allow the periscope waterworm to easily burrow just beneath the surface. To help with breathing while almost entirely buried, the periscope waterworm has adapted specialized pores on top of its head. These pores are larger than the average ones which cover the body and allow greater oxygen intake through the skin while buried.

The periscope waterworm can lie in wait for days, waiting for prey to pass close enough to it. Using its eyes, it can judge which organisms are potential prey or potential predators, and will act accordingly. In the case of prey, it will wait for it to approach, before darting out of the sand and catching it between its jaws. To subdue prey, it pulls it beneath the sand, allowing it to suffocate while trapped within its jaws. If a predator is spotted, the periscope waterworm will descend beneath the sand. It can hold its breath for up to 30 minutes before having to expose its head once again, hoping that the predator passes before then. If dug up by a predator, the detachable spines on its sides can be stuck into an attacker, which will grow back in around two weeks. Periscope waterworms will commonly gather together in groups, acting like a minefield for their prey. This has the result that members of the species can help each other bring down large prey, feasting on it together. However, if food grows rare, the periscope waterworms will become more territorial, forcing other members of its species out of its territory.