Net Foilug

The net foilug split from it's ancestor. It has adapted to life in one of the harshest environment on Sagan 4, The Otter Vents. Due to being in the vents, they have gone through abyssal gigantism and have grown to be ten times larger then their ancestor, the foilug. It's most drastic change from it's ancestor is that they have grown a large net-like filter feeding organ. The organ is divided up into folds called "sift lips" which strain water through them in a way similar to gills but instead a lined with millions of cilia which ooze gastric juices that allow it to capture organisms that are unlucky enough to get sucked in.

The eyes of the foilugs are radically different. Instead of being used to see light, because the only source of light is from the occasionally flicker of ash from The vents, they have adapted them to "see" in other ways. The two side eyes are now used to to grasp a sense of their surrounding by sifting water through the flaps on their eyes and detecting what is around them by reading the molecular particles in the water in their flaps. Essentially, they "smell" with their eyes.

The middle eye is much smaller then the other eyes. The net foilugs use this to detect heat so they are able to find their ways to the vents. They need to find the vents because that is where the largest concentration of microorganisms can be found. Their hides have become tougher, similar to tire rubber, to protect them from the immense heat and pressure. The hide cells are specially adapted to pump water and air in and out of their bodies to prevent them from losing homeostasis.

Each year, when the plummes of microbs are at their peak, they congregate to breed. The net foilugs will meet each other by migrating to areas with large vents. They do this to maximize the number of offspring that will survive. When two net foilugs meet, they release a mucus like substance that contain a sort of genetic resume, if they do not have good enough genetic materials, they will nor find a willing mate. If two net foilugs decide that they are genetically acceptable, they will then press their filter feeding organs together and "kiss". When they do so, they release hundreds of thousands of spores, which combine to form viable zygotes. Most of the zygote spores do not survive, for they are either accidentally eaten by the otter trapinfilter or they float to their doom into the plummes.

These spores will then flout in the ocean water until they find a vent, then they will take root on the sides of the vents and start growing. They are able develop on the sides of the vents because they are attached to the sides with a tentacle like root attached to their nets that atrophies after it is able to move freely without being thrashed to death by the currents, which is usually in three months. The juvenile net foilugs do not look like their adult forms, Instead they are much rounder and their nets extend to the top of their "head". They are free swimmers, and have fan like flaps of skin that they use for locomotion. When they reach adulthood, the fins morph into a sort of stick, protective layer on the bottom of their bodies to prevent them from damaging themselves from sharp rock and allow them to ooze up the sides of vents.