Filter Worm
Basic Information
Anatomy
Filterworms are divided into four parts: head, body, tail and the hundreds of thin hairs called fibers. The head houses an extremely tiny brain, barely more than a somewhat higher concentration of neuron analogues. The big fish-like tail is used for short bursts of speed when it needs to escape although given the drag from the fibers they are still rather slow, and so tend not to stray far from rocks that can shelter them. The Filterworm also has a pair of sharp, hooked appendages that help anchor it to a rock when it needs to. The filter feeding fibers themselves are the most interesting part of the entire body. Each strand of fiber branches out into tiny flower-like structures called graspers that catch the plankton. The planktons are then broken into fluids and travel up the fiber into the body above.
Genetics and Reproduction
Similar to they’re ancestors, the filterworm may reproduce by budding. When it reaches the last few weeks of its life, it breaks off around ten tiny blobs the size of a water bottle cap that are made out of its own body before sinking down to the sea floor. Meanwhile the blobs who carry pieces of important genetic information begin to form an entirely new filterworm body, ready to start its life in the next two weeks. However however a filterworm may release a cloud of gametes into the water near other filterworms which themselves do the same, this results in tiny zooplanktonic filterworm larvae. They have no sexes, and this release of gametes is done by any given filterworm every few local days, usually at night while hiding with conspecifics in caves.
Growth Rate & Stages
The blob from budding hatches into a free swimming larva and uses its sharp hooks to attach itself to a carcass or any dead organic matter in general. Then it starts to feed using it’s few newly formed fibers. Then it enters the juvenile stage three months later which is the start of its filter feeding life. Finally, after approximately 100 local days it becomes a fully fledged adult, living for another 3 or so local years as a filter feeder before starting the cycle again.
For those filterworms produced by sexual reproduction have a nearly identical life cycle except that as they grow from a zygote they will need to consume food, this they do in the form of hapless zooplankton and phytoplankton, although they themselves are vulnerable to suspension or filter feeding, and the vast majority will meet a fate of being eaten.
For those filterworms produced by sexual reproduction have a nearly identical life cycle except that as they grow from a zygote they will need to consume food, this they do in the form of hapless zooplankton and phytoplankton, although they themselves are vulnerable to suspension or filter feeding, and the vast majority will meet a fate of being eaten.
Ecology and Habitats
Filter worms mainly inhabit small rocky caves the ocean between Yama and Kub-Shay but some have been seen in the surface area. They are mostly preyed on by larger aquatic creatures who see their soft, boneless bodies as an opportunity for an easy meal. This is why they have evolved they strong tail to escape, even so they survive more on the basis of prodigious reproduction than by swift escape.
Dietary Needs and Habits
They prey on both zooplankton and phytoplankton which can be found in large numbers within the range of they’re habitats. They hide in caves after eating they’re fill and digest food. Once digestion is complete, they go back out to feed again.
Additional Information
Social Structure
In larval and juvenile stages, groups of unrelated Filterworms come together to form a huge swarm of around a hundred individuals. This ensures that many of them survive because there’s more safety in numbers. Once it becomes an adult, it will be completely solitary by day but at night it will hide in caves with conspecifics and occasionally mate there.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Filterworms are found in the shallow waters between Kub Shay, the south western coasts of Arctica, the the coasts of Yama except at its westernmost extent.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The eyes of the filterworm are rudimentary, but mycoids never lost their opsins, and kept using them to regulate circadian rhythms, and so they were able to re-evolve into basic eyespots. These eyes can do little more than detect the basic direction of light, and a sudden shadow will result in rapid beating of the tail to escape predators.
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