Ylbershpelle Bubblehorn

Centuries after most of life forms from the Ferret Limestone Caves being vanquished due to the last disasters, some smaraslim bubblehorns started to live more in the cave ground, where they had no risk of dying by falling from the ceiling. However some of them continue climbing on the walls and reaching the ceiling as they did before, since a new predator evolved in the caves. Spending most of their lives on the cave ground, they can find a huge deposit of organic matter and minerals, much more plentiful than the floating particles available when fishing on the walls. Since water sources always were essential for them, mainly during the development of their eggs, these bubblehorns found a good refuge near the water pools inside the cave, entering in contact with the water tables. There, these creatures split to a new species, the ylbershpelle bubblehorn, with about half of the size of their ancestors. Living near the cave pools, these creatures will lay a massive amount of eggs in long strings and attach them to the rocky surface with some mucus. However, once the eggs are laid in water, some strings and eggs can detach and move to other regions connected by the water table, spreading the species to other caves after several generations. When hatching, the young bubblehorns are still able to breathe underwater during some time, but then will climb back through the string or the cave wall, finding a first food on the slime and then going to the cave ground or walls, where they will eat detritus. The creatures in this species are very colorful, with colors ranging from the entire spectrum. In this way, places almost inhabited will have many of these creatures found in many colors, while in other places, where they are not alone, most of them will have the same color of the cave walls. Those bubblehorns showing a different color of the cave have a poor disguise and will be easily recognized and a target to predators. They will spend most of their lives living on the cave ground, but they also are able to climb in the same way of their ancestors. Unlike most of the bubblehorns, the shell of the ylbreshpelle is more protective and keeps growing the entire life. After some years it will cover the entire body of the creature, except the more active parts of the body, being these the mouth, legs, horns and the new organ, a breathing hole evolved in the top of the shell. Since these creatures breathe by skin and can't do it well underwater, part of the shell disappeared, letting exposed part of the creature skin, where the new organ evolved. The main purpose of this organ is to allow the creature to grab and store air in an internal bag for breathing, and avoid that it be drowned if staying underwater during much time. The organ communicates with the external environment by eight sensors that can differentiate changes on the surroundings and the presence of water, making the three lips close. When most of the body is about to be fully covered by water, it will do a large breathe to take air and close the three lips to prevent water to impede the breathing, holding them closed by three small appendages placed near the border. While growing, they also will find food in the water pools, eating small microbes, spores or particles floating on it. When older, they will move to near of those pools, where they will attach the body to the rocky surface and hardly will leave the place. The creature will leave most of the shell outside water, but will submerge the neck and the horns in water. The legs are built in order to allow them to attach tightly, being these involved by the mucus produced in the mouth. When younger the creature move faster, but now, older and heavier due to the larger shell, they will move less and their legs will be atrophied over the time. They will continue reproducing, but it only will happen if a couple of these bubblehorns is close enough, since they can't move much. To do it, they will have to move the neck and kiss each other, since their sexual organs are located near the mouth. After some time, the female will lay a string with eggs and try to fix it in the rocks near the water with mucus. Staying underwater, they will hold and absorb part of the minerals dissolved on it; making the body parts in contact with water to become encrusted with minerals and heavier than before. An interesting feature in this creature is the ability of absorb nutrients and small microbes through the porous skin on the horns. They will absorb most of the nutrients required and, while filtering, they also will absorb some minerals. These minerals will adhere to the skin cells, making them mineralized and thus promoting other cells to grow over those mineralized ones. When growing around other cells, the new cells will increase the area in contact with water and thus improve the ability to absorb nutrients from water, creating channels where the nutrients will flow, being these transported to the main body of the ylbershpelle. The core of the horns will always remain soft, while the external layer, in contact with water, will grow slowly and make them heavier over the time. These creatures have a calm life, being able to live for more than 50 years. In some cases, where the creature is very old or has huge filtering horns, the legs will be no more able to support the creature weight; consequently they will detach from the rocky surface and the creature will sink to the bottom. Living in this way, the creature was able to spread to several locations along the limestone rock layer, being found in water tables and caves on Glicker continent, where they have a water source to reproduce and live and a rocky surface to grow and stay out of water. In all these places, it is common to find delicate structures similar to corals adhered to the rocks or in the bottom of water pools, being these formed by mineral deposits accumulated on the bodies of ylbershpelles over the time. When the creature body disappears, the mineral structures will remain almost intact and can act like a home for tiny creatures, able to live inside of what once was a bubblehorn horn.