Morsus Sopor

Morsus sopor replaced its ancestor, Morsus turpis, despite the latter’s wide range of inhabitance. Morsus sopor feeds similarly to its ancestor, except that it now has two forms of spine, longer ones which excrete powerful digestive enzymes, and shorter ones with wider ends that are responsible for nutrient intake. Other then these spines, the membrane of the cell is covered with a thick protein layer that makes the cell quite durable. In addition, Morsus sopor has the ability to add additional proteins to this during times of stress, solidifying the membrane and allowing the cell to enter a dormant state. While in this state, it is extremely hard to kill, simply because most species do not posses the enzymes needed to break down the shell, and that Morsus sopor have very little nutrient requirements during this time.

Similarly to its ancestor, Morsus sopor feeds by excreting digestive enzymes into surrounding cells, then sucking in the nutrients, however, Morsus sopor no longer digests multicellular prey directly, rather, if it manages to infect a wound, it will only consume cells for a short period of time before making its way into the bloodstream, where it will enter its dormant state (stimulated by body heat). It will remain so indefinitely, usually able to intake what little nutrients it needs from the host’s bloodstream, until the host dies. Once this occurs, Morsus sopor becomes active again, able to un-harden its membrane and feast upon the dead organism without threat from the immune system.

This ability to remain dormant in hosts on land or sea (Morsus sopor is able to live within land organisms, but cannot survive if it dries out, restricting it to a parasitic or aquatic existance) has allowed Morsus sopor to travel over most of the ocean regions (it cannot survive deep-sea pressure), thus giving it the opportunity to replace its ancestor. Another reason for this is the ability of Morsus sopor to fuse together with others of its own kind and exchange genetic information. When in contact with Morsus turpis, Morsus sopor will commonly attempt to do this, but due to the differences in the species, this results in the more effective enzymes of Morsus sopor digesting the unfortunate Morsus turpis.