Scuttlers

The scuttler genus group replaced both its ancestor, the scuttler, as well as its closest kin, including the bubbleweed scuttler, the fanhand scuttler, the hookjaw scuttler, the infernal scuttler, the lockjaw scuttler, the orange-spot scuttler, the siltsifting scuttler, the sleepy scuttler, and the tunneljaw scuttler.

A highly diverse group of organisms, the scuttlers take on a wide variety of shapes and forms, as well as just as many diets. Some are herbivorous, specializing on feeding upon the various twinkiiros and pioneeroots. Others are more carnivorous, feeding upon their smaller kin as well as other small aquatic life. A few species are even capable of photosynthesizing to a limited degree. Finally, some merely serve as the 'clean-up crew' of the seafloor, clearing it of debris, carcasses, and other edible material. Rarely is their a food source that at least one species of scuttler hasn't learned to exploit. They are in turn an important source of food for many ocean-going organisms.

On a global scale, most scuttlers are marine organisms, living from the bottom of the abyss around hydrothermal vents to underneath ice sheets at the surface. Some have developed the ability to exist on land for limited periods of time, typically thriving in tide pools or very moist environments. Yet others have learned to tolerate freshwater, and descendants can now be found inhabiting streams and lakes worldwide. Because of this adaptability, scuttlers as a whole have flourished and play important roles in most aquatic food chains.

Most scuttlers reproduce via releasing thousands upon thousands of microscopic eggs and sperm into the water en masse. When both come into contact with one after some random amount of time, they unite in order to produce a fertilized egg which will then hatch several days later. From the egg, a rather jointed swarmer-like larvae will be born, one that will stay within the plankton as it feeds and grows. After a certain amount of time has passed, they will settle down upon the seafloor, molt, and transform into miniature versions of the adults. Said adults will then continue the life cycle and often live no more a year or two. Because of this dispersal, scuttlers can be found almost anywhere the currents can take them, leading to their numerousness all across Sagan IV's watery surface.