Shimmering Marephasmatises

Replacing the Krakow and Colddigger population of their ancestor, the Shimmering Marephasmatises are modern representatives of one of Sagan 4’s most ancient and elusive lineages, the Marephasmatises. Though this lineage has produced more complex descendants, such as filtersquids and teuthopins, the Shimmering Marephasmatises are far more basal. They are radially symmetric, have no blood, and most of their interior is filled with non-living jelly, similar to mesoglea, which is used as a hydrostatic skeleton. The gut is blind and filled with a sticky mucus used for capturing plankton. They have only two cell layers, the endoderm and ectoderm, and they have a tail which tapers into a nematocyst-lined tip for self defense.

Shimmering Marephasmatises can be found all over the ocean, mainly in the twilight zone and lower sunlight zone, but some species may also be found as deep as the midnight zone where they rely on marine snow for sustenance. They are bioluminescent, shining light through tiny, symbiotic, color-changing crystal flora unrelated to any modern crystal flora species. In fact, these endosymbiotes are more closely related to those that make up the bones and teeth of spondylozoans such as shrews and snappers than even to the Binucleus Crystal Shrub. The color-changing lights can be used to communicate and deter predators. Microscopic reflector eyes surround the mouth and are used to sense the glow of other individuals, so that they may approach one another to spawn. Species in higher population densities, however, don’t bother finding and meeting up with others of their kind to spawn, as there will usually be others spawning close by already. They spawn from gonads located under their upper ring of fins.

There are many species of Shimmering Marephasmatis. Some only use specific sets of colors in order to identify members of their own species. Those high in the water column feed on various phytoplankton, while those in deeper waters may depend more on marine snow. Though usually either male or female, in some species there is an unusually high frequency of hermaphroditism, where they have alternating male and female gonads around their circumference.