Prickly Pear Octacoral
Basic Information
Anatomy
Octacoral is a descendant of Octagis. It grows in polygonal segments, called pollies. These pollies are usually octagonal in shape; however it is not uncommon for them to grow with fewer sides. It uses a secreted adhesive to stick to rocks, and new Pollies sprout from the corners of the previous ones like octagis, But unlike Octagis, Octacoral grows three dimensionally, with segments growing in all directions, often growing up towards the sun, this is thanks to its internal mineralized skeleton which gives it its hard structure and lets it hold its shape, each polly has a single, flat, polygonal bone, which is fused to the bones of adjacent pollies. Mature pollies can fuse with other mature pollies of the same individual if they come into physical contact. The bones of each polly are sharp and reach slightly beyond the flesh, giving each one a razor sharp edge, this makes octacoral extremely unpalatable to all but the most specialized or determined of herbivores. Furthermore, octacoral stores very little nutrients in its tissues, due to its tropical environment giving it a constant stream of energy. This acts as a further defensive measure by making it even less palatable.
Prickly pear octacoral is named after the earth plants of genus Oputina because they broadly resemble such plants in their pattern of growth, although rather than forming ovoid leaves like the earth plant, this species of octa coral form more polygonal leaves with new sprouts coming from the corners. Because each sprout rarely emerges at an angle more than about 20° from the plane of the leaf from which it emerged the whole organism tends to be rather restricted in which directions it can grow. This results in a rather flat looking octacoral.
Genetics and Reproduction
Octacoral can reproduce in 3 ways, asexual fragmenting, sexual fusing, and sexual budding. Fragmenting occurs when a piece of octacoral is broken off, it secretes an adhesive agent from the open wound, which dries and forms a scab on the piece still connected, but for small broken off pieces, the adhesive means that if they are lucky, it will attach to a rocky outcrop, where it can start growing again. This can be done with even tiny pieces, as long as the piece has at least 1 corner of a polly on it, from which the retinalphyte can sprout a new polly. However, having more mass is helpful, and can help it reach full size faster. Octacoral is heavy enough that pieces sink to the bottom, but light enough to be carried a little way by the current first.
The second manner is a form of sexual reproduction. Some species of octacoral can fuse with other members of their species should they touch, in the same way pollies from the same individual can fuse two each other. This allows for the splicing of DNA, and pollies that grow from the touching pollies are genetically distinct from the two parent individuals, despite still being physically connected. However, this form of genetic splicing has been secondarily lost in most species, as it spread disease.
Instead, they exclusively use there buds for sexual reproduction. This is the primary method of reproduction for all Octacoral species. Mature and healthy Octacoral will produce clumps of buds on some of the corners of some of their polies instead of producing more pollies, these clumps contain up to a hundred spaw like buds inside a protective shell. A single octacoral will have a few hundred to a few thousand clumps, depending on species. When conditions are just right, all the octacorals of a species will release their buds into the current at the same time, using water chemistry, temperature, and light levels of both the sun and moons to synchronize their release with each other. filling the sea with millions of buds in one go, this overwhelms the many predators that eat the buds, as each bud has a small package of nutrients for the young coral, making them an ideal snack, and making spawning a veritable feast for the reef dwellers. Spawning’s are loosely based on time of year, but if the triggering conditions don’t happen, they won’t spawn that year, and they might happen at a different time of the year or multiple times in one year if the conditions are met more than once.
The buds float in the current, but should two meet, they will fuse and splice there DNA in a similar manner to fusing adults, creating a genetically unique individual. After a few hours the buds produce the adhesive and settle to the ground, beginning to grow into new octacorals, with those that didn’t fuse simply growing into clones of their parents. Once they attach to the ground, they can no longer splice DNA; this is a far safer way to sexually reproduce than fusing of adults.
Growth Rate & Stages
Octacoral grows slowly, and when growing from buds or small broken off pollies, it will take a few years for it to be big enough to start diverting resources to making buds, and it will be a few more years for it to reach full size.
Ecology and Habitats
Octacoral provides a habitat for hundreds of unique species that rely on the reefs for shelter, such as the rib fish and Thanatodon ýfalos. The webs of hard pollies, and the caves formed in them, are the perfect hiding spots for small organisms and ambush predators alike. The coral also supports some organisms more directly, such as the fortress-misa who use the coral for nest materials, using broken off pieces of coral to build and disguise their nests.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Octacoral requires very specific conditions to grow. Firstly it requires a rocky attachment point, without which nothing else will matter, as octacoral is completely incapable of growing on lose substrate like sand or gravel. Secondly, octacoral requires constant tropical sunlight; low light levels will stunt its growth or even kill it. Due to octacoral storing little nutrients as a deterrent against predation, it needs a constant stream of energy to keep it alive, even a few heavily over cast weeks in a row can cause reefs to die back substantially. Ph and water hardness is also very important; octacoral thrives in hard water with a PH from 8.2-8.5 and will start to die at 7.2. Events that lower PH rapidly such as volcanic activity, and the deaths of large creatures leaving behind an excessive amount of decomposing material, can cause die backs. Combinations of PH drops and low sun light can cause major die offs that turn the purple/pink reefs bone white.
Biological Cycle
Upon death an octacoral leaves behind its skeleton, once all other organic materials have rotted away, the skeleton is rough and porous, due to the vessels and pours in it for fluid transport and storage. These rough skeletons are the perfect attachment point for more octacoral, and the skeletons leach minerals into the water, raising PH and water hardness, making it ideal for more octacoral growth, and so reefs that experience large die backs provide the ideal environment for a new generation of octacoral. For this reason most reefs are constantly waxing and waning over the decades. Also, because of octacoral’s ability to grow from the skeletons of the previous generation, it is able to colonize once barren sand dunes, turning them into moderately sized reefs over the course a century or so, all it takes is a single exposed boulder to appear and become home to an octacoral, then the generations of octacoral will build on each other, until a new reef is created.
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