Sea Tumbleweed

A sea tumble weed has grabbed a juvenile protomisanid in it's tendrils and it is about to kill it and move it to the oral cavity. [Creature design by Ding Dong]

Basic Information

Anatomy

The sea tumbleweed has a conservative xenoradiatan bauplan. it retains the full pentaradial symmetry, 5 tentacles, 5 eyes, and 10 tendrils of it's feather barrel ancestor, and also its genitorespratory system is largely intact. The biggest changes are at either end of the creature, the tentacles no longer secret glue, and instead are used to move the creature across the substrate, giving the tumbleweed a much more active lifestyle than its ancestors, although not too active. It moves at speeds comparable to a starfish on earth. The feeding fronds bear sharp hooks tipped in keratin, and featuring a dangerous surprise. Acetic acid is pumped into the tips of the claws which helps incapacitate prey, which rather than being primarily plankton, now include nektonic creatures of larger size than the ancestral featherbarrel ever could have eaten. The body is almost completely round in order to facilitate the tubleweed's main defense strategy, rapid retreat. When it senses danger water is quickly drawn into the respiratory channels and expelled forcefully through the channel nearest the perceived threat. This causes the creature to roll away, rather comically. While this does protect them from hungry predators it is not entirely safe, and older specimens typically feature numerous scars on their tough skin from scrapes and cuts they have gained from their tumbling antics. These scars form rapidly as their skin tissues create new tough and somewhat keratinized tissue to heal cuts quite rapidly. Another major adaptation is that the tumbleweed has a true through gut, and it excretes waste through an anus at the center of its legs.

Genetics and Reproduction

Tumbleweeds, like their ancestors are hermaphroditic broadcast spawners, whose larvae form a part of the zooplankton.

Ecology and Habitats

Tumbleweeds are bottom dwellers in the epipelagic zone preferring the cold waters around arctica and the east and southern coasts of Cha Ttang.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Feather barrels eat relatively large prey such as protomisanids, filter globe relatives, and even the occasional probosignathid or infirmignathid juvenile.