Metamorphling Gilltail

As populations of srugeing grew in numbers, some groups would end up in areas where bodies of water are highly variable with some only lasting days while others can last decades. While at certain points the srugeings needed to develop quickly to escape quickly shrinking ponds, there were also situations where developing into their short-lived adult forms proved unnecessary and even disadvantageous since they could breed more than once in the longer lasting bodies of water. With these highly variable conditions, some groups of srugeings would evolve to be highly adaptable, able to live in whatever conditions they hatched in. These would become a distinct species, known as the metamorphling gilltail.

When they hatch from their eggs, metamorphling gilltail larvae will begin to eat anything around them to support their fast-growing bodies. Unlike their strictly carnivorous ancestors, metamorphling gilltail larvae are very opportunistic, eating flora and detritus as well. They continue living like this until about 16 centimeters long, where the particular body of water they hatched in will then influence their future development. If the larvae hatched in a small pond or another body of water that quickly dries up, they will begin to undergo major changes in their anatomy such as their pectoral fins growing massive and the development of their pelvic lungs. This specific version of an adult metamorphling gilltail, known as the dispersal form, lives somewhat like the adult forms of their ancestor but with some minor differences. While the adults of their ancestor did still eat on occasion, the metamorphling gilltail dispersal forms do not eat anything at all and instead focus entirely only on finding other bodies of water and breeding.

Certain other bodies of waters, however, can last for years or even decades which then means maturing into their dispersal form is no longer necessary for the metamorphling gilltails. When they hatch in these kinds of conditions, the larvae instead just keep growing bigger and bigger until they become their mature neotenic form. As they grow larger, their growth rate begins to slow down once they become around 30 centimeters long, while the lifespans of the neotenic form has extended to several years rather than the mere week of the metamorphling gilltail’s dispersal form. Much like when they were larvae, the neotenic forms are omnivorous and will eat a wide variety of small flora and fauna as well as larger microbes.

In the rare cases where these larger bodies of water do dry up, possibly by a particularly harsh drought, and the environment becomes too small to sustain the neotenic forms of the metamorphling gilltail, the adults will eventually perish. Before they do die, however, the neotenic forms will often spawn in the shrinking pool one last time as water levels go down. The larvae that hatch from this last generation will grow rapidly and mature into their dispersal forms who will then fly off to find other sources of water to breed in.