Shrew Sauceback

The Shrew Sauceback is a very small sauceback measuring no more than 5 centimeters in length. This size decrease is due in part to its eyeless nature not being especially competitive in a world of eyed creatures, so it simply got smaller until it hit something it was more competitively viable in. It is named not for any resemblance to shrews, but for its dietary habits as an adult, which are like those of a Terran shrew. As such a small endotherm, it must eat constantly to survive, so it is always on the hunt for prey which is often much larger than itself. Tooth-like extensions of its existing tooth jaws assist in grasping and killing large prey. It can starve so quickly that, in order to survive the night, it doesn’t sleep—it hibernates. However, it is a totally different story for its larvae.

Like many other saucebacks, the Shrew Sauceback has worm-like larvae. Unlike its ancestor, and indeed unlike most other saucebacks, the Shrew Sauceback does not care for its young at all. Shrew Sauceback larvae are completely ectothermic, burrowing, and feed almost exclusively on carcasses and detritus, only occasionally snapping up the vermees they stumble upon. The larvae hatch at less than a millimeter in length, and they reach their full adult length before they undergo metamorphosis. In fact, a mature larva is bigger than an adult, as it will pack on a lot of weight in fat stores before it begins its metamorphosis. This is necessary because the Shrew Sauceback’s adult metabolism is so high that otherwise it would starve to death before it finishes the transformation. The larva will hide in a burrow while undergoing metamorphosis and emerge as a full-sized adult. Due to their small size, most Shrew Saucebacks will die before they ever mate, so to compensate they will lay thousands of eggs per mating.