Colonial Uksip

The colonial uksip evolved from the stumpworm sucker. Since the stumpworm sucker was heavily defended and had very little meat on it, the predators and scavengers of the region began to steal and eat its eggs instead. In response, the suckers began defending their broods. This was much easier when they banded together, and loose familial groups began to form. Eggs are laid in a large communal 'brood burrow,' and the developing larvae are brought sustenance by the whole family. To feed their young, the suckers began to branch out from simply preying on stumpworms and began to actively hunt other small animals in the region. An interesting family dynamic is that females will attempt to destroy those eggs laid by other females, and in the same way, males will attempt to be the only male to mate with a female. In the case of the males, this leads to all but the strongest being killed off, and as a consequence, the entire family group tends to be descended from a single male/female pair. In terms of physiology, the sucker body plan is fairly unchanged. The eyes have taken on an unusual 'multiple pupil' configuration, allowing large adjustments for light or dark conditions, perfect for competition in dark burrows. One eye has also moved to the side of the other eye in the manner of a flatfish to allow for more efficient hunting (360 vision is no longer a requirement; now cooperation is the word of the day). The colonial uksip range from wherever the stumpworm suckers lived in Ovi-Hydro Plains, provided there is an abundance of small prey species.