Sserdlip
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Very similar to its ancestor, the sserdlip split from it and evolved a new pair of flagella. It is able to swim easily, also being able to be carried by ocean currents in the same way of its ancestor. Its shape allows it to make long chains, linking others like it or its relative organisms. They are found in a huge quantity near to rocky surfaces, forming long filaments over a huge mass of mottubroks. Like its relative organisms, it is able to communicate with them by chemical messengers transmitted between the cells of the colony. These long filaments are able to entangle other cells or small creatures, which will nurture the entire colony. Evolved in Jujubee Ocean and transported by the warm ocean currents, it was able to spread to the warm coasts of Darwin and Drake, through the Soma Tropical Sea.
The Linesphaer Colony
Formed by an aggregation of organisms of the genus Linesphaer, it develops better when close to rocks, small holes and calm waters, reaching up to 3 cm long over a huge mass of mottubroks. Even being efficient when catching food by themselves, these microscopic life forms use to be found in these long chains when the place is plenty of macroscopic food. They flourish in holes and submarine caves and catch other microscopic organisms or tiny and fragile eggs, babies and larvae of large creatures.
For being almost invisible, the preys touch in the long filaments of the colony by misfortune; the long stinging flagella of the tiabsias touch the victim and it is stunned. Close to the huge mass of filaments, the creature is entangled and captured by the alucsorrhias. Chemical messengers sent by the cells in the extremities to the colony lead to the cellular contraction of sserdlips, followed by the release of vesicles by the ortsaggasts. The filaments get shorter and better entangle the prey, which is slowly digested by the enzymes contained in those vesicles, being absorbed by the entire colony. The more plenty is the place, longer and denser is the colony. Sometimes, when capturing food, the filaments can break and originate more of them, spreading them to other places.
Among those organisms, some wykralines (2), from where all those organisms evolved, also can benefit from the colony, being linked directly to mottubroks in the borders of the colony. The lithovores mottubroks (1) are the base of the colony; attaching to rocks and allowing the long filaments to grow. It links directly to sserlips (3), the organisms able to form long chains and that, sometimes, have other relative cells linked to them; they make the most of the colony. Inserted in the middle of the filaments are the ortsaggasts (4), specialized in digesting other cells; they make about a third part of the colony. In the tip of each filament are located the cells able to capture (5) or stun (6) the preys, getting food for the entire colony.
At naked eye the colony can be perceived as a viscous liquid near the surface, due to the large amount of chains on it. It can develop over any rocky surface and produce filaments growing from the ground or hanging from the top. Any thing captured by the top ones will be digested, and part of it will fall to the bottom ones. The hole where they are placed must be small enough to allow tiny preys to enter into it and get entangled by the filaments. Usually, filaments growing in the bottom of hanging ones are shorter and have less of those stunning cells, since most of the food it receives is previously digested and basically formed by detritus of other cells.
In general way, each filament has about 300 of these microscopic life forms, being most of them sserdlips and ortsaggasts. A general profile shows that those organisms contribute with 66.2% and 33.1% of the entire arrangement of filaments, respectively; mottubroks, alucsorrhias and tiabsias represent only 0.3%, 0.2% and 0.1% of them, respectively. The colony is very active and some of these organisms can be found swimming between the filaments, and eventually will replace old organisms or start new filaments, if they are not captured first. Wykralines are not included in the statistics because they develop in the outer parts of the colony, only benefiting from the plenty amount of food near it.
Living Relatives (click to show/hide)
