Symbiotic Gildring

The symbiotic gildring split from its ancestor, the gildring. As the gildrings grew on the beached gelati in a relationship straddling the line between co-paratism and symbiosis, two groups of the gildrings diverged from each other. One gave up the interlocking patterns of its long-distant ancestors, becoming unicellular and coming to live entirely within the nutrient-rich interior of the gelati, and being spread by its buds. This group eventually became a separate species as the beach gelatus moved into the tundra, forming the symbiotic gildrings. The other group, though, attempted to have its cake and eat it too. They resisted the gradual culling, the pulling of the exterior gildrings into the interior where they could be ingested. The symbiotic gildrings are suspended inside the upper cavity of the tundra gelatus, photosynthesizing the light that comes through the transparent top of the organism. Nutrient-rich fluids and safety from predators help it grow rapidly, springing back from the frequent cullings by the tundra gelatus that pulls the microbes into the bottom cavity to be digested. The symbiotic gildrings will spread with their host, present in the bud-seeds that travel on the provuci.