Sandsculptor Janit

The sandsculptor janit split from its ancestor and moved to the eastern beaches of Dixon. It has changed in color to blend in with its surroundings. One of the two most important changes, though, is its way of reproducing. They still mate through cloaca kissing. However, instead of being simultaneous hermaphrodites, sandsculptor janits are female when they are born, turning into males somewhere during the course of their lives. They can instinctively control this to keep the amounts of males and females equal. They cannot change back.

Male sandsculptor janits use their front two pairs of legs to build small 'sand castles', in which a female will later lay her eggs. Two of the legs have developed larger scoops to pile up the sand while the other two have become chisel-like for the finer details. When the mating season starts, each male will build its own structure, after which the females will choose the male with the most solid, and possibly also the most beautifully decorated, sand castle. They will mate and the female will lay her eggs in a hole in the sand structure and leave. The male will tend to the eggs until they hatch, never going further than two meters from the nest. The young can survive independently from the moment they hatch.