Inzcrek

The Inzcrek has split from its ancestor. It is descended from one of the relic populations of Crystank Walker trapped in small refugia along the length of Slarti riparian. The three leg bearing segments have fused into a single tagma (A fused grouping of segments into a functional whole). Unlike their ancestor this thorax is the only segment to have an opening for connection with their symbiont. Blood vessels and nerve bundles emerge from this opening and travel into the croriss. The largest of these is a nerve bundle connecting the optic center of the brain to the crorsiss’s eyes. The fusion of segments and consolidation of openings has improved the stability of the inzcrek’s exoskeleton, allowing it to support a larger symbiont. Like their ancestor inzcreks chemically control the growth of their symbiont to prevent it from overgrowing their ability to support.

Like their ancestor izcreks are eyeless and rely on their symbiont to see for them. While their optic nerves are homologous with those of other scuttlecrabs they do not directly sense light. Instead they sense the electrochemical signals produced by the crorsiss’s eyes in a form of secondhand sight.

The croriss extends approximately 2.5 cm beyond the body of the izcrek, forming a ‘skirt’ around it. This skirt also extends somewhat downward from the point of attachment, covering most of the izcrek’s body. During the winter inzcreks hibernate in shallow scrapes in the soil, hunkering down so that the edges of the crorsiss’s skirt are against the ground. The crorsiss will continue to photosynthesize until t is eventually covered in snow.

Inzcreks are hermaphrodites and practices mutual fertilization during mating. The long and highly flexible male reproductive organ transfers not only the izcrek’s sperm but also the crorsiss’s spores. These spores will bond with the reproductive roots of the mother's croriss and produce a pseudo-placenta. The young are nourished by this structure and gestated internally. After they are born it remains attached and matures into their croriss. They give birth to three to six young at a time depending on the size and age of the mother. The young are precocial and will follow their mother for the first few months of life.