Gut Foi

The gut foi split from its ancestor and has shrunken in size. It now lives a mostly parasitic life style and lives most of its entire life within the digestive track of the eggulper gilltail. They evolved from king foi that were accidentally swallowed whole by eggulper gilltail as they were crawling over eggs. Those that managed to survive due to a thick layer of mucous covering them found a new environment rich in nutrients. They eventually evolved and adapted to live within the guts of these species. The life cycle of this species begins with microscopic larvae hunting down the eggs that are part of the eggulper gilltails diet, but instead of feeding on them, they merely attach to them and merely live a detritivore life style. They release enzymes that greatly increases the coloration and scent produced by the eggs, making them more visible and desirable to the eggulper gilltail. Once ingested, they form cysts within its stomach and metamorphosis into their adult stage. The adults will eventually pass through the stomach and attach themselves to the sides of the rest of the digestive tract. They will begin to bore lightly through the walls with their own digestive acids in order to feed on the eggulper gilltails blood, and in so doing so begin to assimilate its genetic material. They use this to form a layer of cells as well as enzymes in order to confuse the body into thinking that the gut foi is part of it, and combined with is layer of mucous that prevents it from being digested, allows it to live rather comfortably within the eggulper gilltails gut. Surrounded by a rich nutrient soup of pre-digested eggs and a lack of predators, the gut foi lives a rather simple life, feeding on what the eggulper gilltail eats and merely spawning every few weeks, releasing a mass of microscopic eggs. These eggs eventually make their way out of the eggulper gilltail and hatch, after which they quickly locate a batch of eggs to infest and prepare to start the cycle all over again. Due to their environment, gut foi are completely blind when fully grown, and only the larvae can see, though they rely on chemical markers in the water to find the eggs of other species.