Haplotoke Gushlych

The Haplotoke Gushlych has split from the Gushlych in the Maineiac continent. It owes its name to a new, revolutionary reproductive mechanism: it now reproduces sexually. Rather than budding larval clones of itself, the same organ responsible for this activity instead engages in meiotic activity that buds spherical, multicellular haploid bodies that, once expelled, must come in contact with another haploid mass. When this happens, the two haploid bodies then fuse together to form a diploid organism, which is a miniature version of the adult form. These haploid bodies shall be named haplotokes. These are released during the summer spawning season, with the juveniles forming from them feeding alongside the adults during the fall before all migrating closer to the shore, burying themselves during winter hibernation. The result of this sexual revolution is greater variation in the offspring, with the more successful variants being able to distribute their favorable traits throughout the entire population as opposed to flying asexually blind into the next generation hoping the next cohort can adapt to the circumstances of its world. This has supercharged evolutionary change—among of which is the transformation of the legs into swimming flippers, lined with setae to push against water more viscous at its size, with the three digits on each foot moving to the underside, being useful only for grasping terrain returning to the water, with the result of all of this being that this species is mainly aquatic as opposed to its ancestor. Additionally, the spines along its back become modified into makeshift dorsal fins, enabling greater stability. The abdominal segment becomes flattened and spade-like, likewise giving the organism further stability. The mandibles, in addition to allowing a degree of steering, grasp the skin of the host when the organism rams its rostrum into it. This is then followed by a retractable proboscis piercing the skin, sliding in like a hypodermic needle to draw blood. The proboscis is curved in shape, enabling the organism to remain hooked to the host's skin until sated. This organism feeds exclusively on carpozoan blood, as it is more compatible biologically than anipede blood. What's more, this species's penchant for carpozoan blood has led it to a particular warm host: the wolvershrog, latching onto swimming individuals then traveling with them back to their nests strewn across the North Jujubee and LadyM Polar Oceans before detaching itself, crawling off the deck and then swimming off. This has enabled it to spread from beyond Maineiac, becoming such the parasitic nuisance all across Sagan 4's north polar waters below the North Sagan 4 Ice Sheet. There is now a set number of chemoreceptive patches used to locate hosts, which is eight on each side of the head, adding up to sixteen patches per organism.