Side Sprig: Difference between revisions

The '''side sprigs''' live towards the center of the [[Russ River]] in the deeper parts where the current is too strong for most flora to take root. They often are in small clusters so that breeding is easier, but lone sprigs are not unusual. When pregnant, the female sprig will grow her spawn in birthing sacs (normally 5 sacs per female) that she keeps inside her, each sac contains a small group (4-8) of young, after the young reach a certain stage of development the birthing sacs bloat with nutrient rich fluids, by now they are about 2 cm long. At that time the female is bloated with young and she expels the sacs from herself into the water, they have a pair of long sticky tendrils that are flung around by the water until they hit a rock, piece of debris, or even an organism. There the sacs will stick and feed the developing sprigs with stored nutrients through their final growth stages before they are allowed to roam their world. Oxygen and water is diffused through the walls of the birthing sac so the young don't suffocate. By the time the spawn is ready to hatch the birthing sac is empty of nutrients and has shriveled, the young sprigs break out and latch their tether and nubs onto whatever the birthing sac was attached to.