Dakuth (pl. Dakutha, /dākʉθa/)
Peregrispatiuensis Coelugardinis
Public sentientologic record
Property of the Royal Atheneum of Hövnís, Eörpe
Dakutha were one of two sapient species that immigrated to Rosepetal from the Glitterburst companion. Though they remain an uncommon sight among the general galactic populace, they've given rise to several well-known individuals within the fields of planecology, biomedicine, and bioengineering.
During the planula stage nutrition is gained passively by the magut filter feeding for plankton and depositing harvested food matter into a shared gastrovascular cavity, where digestion takes place and extracted nutrients are distributed through their circulatory system.
Once in the polyp stage and onward, they will extend their diet by actively foraging for edible plants, algae, fungi, and animals that happen to pass within reach and depositing directly into the gastrovascular cavity through the mandubrium. Developing proboscis and the tentacle spines allows the dakuth to more actively hunt for and process food. Once the mineralization of their primary tentacles into legs is finished, they will also begin to search for food on the ocean's surface and on land.
Once the dakuth has developed its symbiont microcosm, usually years after reaching adult form, they will switch from earlier modes of nutrition to rely primarily on saprophagy and chemoheterotrophy. The dakuth gathers detrius from their enclosed ecosystem and digests it in their gastrovascular cavity. After extracting nutrients from the detrius, the remaining basal components are added back and serve to remineralize the soil or sediment of their symbiont microcosm. Excess gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia created as a byproduct of this process or by the microcosms own ecological cycle, is caught and processed into nutrients through chemosynthesis by the ralk colony - access to sunlight makes this process more efficient, but is not required.
In the case their symbion microcosm, for one reason or another, is unable to provide enough nutrition to support the dakuth, they will supplement it with magut filter feeding and/or active foraging.
Etymology and Definition
Their own name for their species is dakuth (pl. dakutha), though the specific origin or meaning is still unknown.History
Very little is known of the dakutha's origin and history, as the only specimen of their species old enough remember has been reluctant to share. What is known is that they had a long-standing relationship with the furooti as benevolent caretakers, and likely had access to advanced technology at some point. Furooti revere the prime dakutha as deitific figures, and name at least six of them in their mythos: Aasooloonusasuu, Maavaalaanosos, Oorutoonossa, Sannomaalaanu, Leeloomoloolaluu, and Unnaamaarossa.
We similarly don't know how the ancient dakutha would have exited or entered planetary atmospheres, or how they came to evolve the capability to survive in the vaccuum of space. Aasooloonusasuu has only communicated they no longer can. And while currently living dakutha appear able to survive in space they display no natural ability to safely leave or enter a planet's surface on their own.
Glitterburst's Collapse
The dakutha and furooti are the newest immigrats to Rosepetal. Thanks to the sacrifice of the prime dakutha, they were able to escape certain death as their home galaxy entered the last stages of collapse. A population of ~7.000 polyp or medusa dakutha and ~23.000 furooti were rescued from the primes' symbiont microcosms, with another ~3200 hibernating adult dakutha found externally tethered to them. According to oracle Uloomonna, their population may have lived up to a century within the primes' microcosms before rescue. It would be safe to assume most of the hibernating adults lived within the prime microcosms at first, and decided to move out once their own symbiont microcosm could sustain them in order to lessen the strain on the prime. Despite this, nearly all primes had died of starvation by the time they were discovered and the rest were severely emaciated and dying. Out of the twenty recovered primes, only Aasooloonusasuu was successfully resuscitated.New Dakuun & Prime's Rest
The rescued dakutha still in planula and medusa stage of development wouldn't be able to progress without an aquatic environment similar to their lost homeworld. To recreate the right conditions to allow the dakutha to continue their life cycle, an island-oceanic world recently colonized by the lima was suggested as a candidate for bioengineering. After reassurance that the colony's inhabitans would be able to continue to live there and coexist with the dakutha, their governmental approved the modification of the planets ocean to make it habitable for dakutha. After news of the creation of New Dakuun reached Aasooloonusasuu, oracle Uloomonna relayed their wish to 'return the lost to the embrace of soil and sand'. The nature reserve of Prime's Rest was established on a remote, drifting island on the new dakutha homeworld, and the remains of the nineteen primes that sacrificed their lives were transported to their final resting place. Asooloonusasuu was offered to be transported to New Dakuun, but declined and remained on Papacalla.Habitat & Population
Geographic Origin
Dakutha originated from the island-oceanic planet of Dakuun, likely located somewhere between the outer two rings of the Glitterburst companion.Galactic Distribution
Today's dakuth population is estimated to circa 2.64 billion, of which ~ 12.8% are adults capable of living outside of their aquatic home. An estimate 2% (~6.76m) of those have emigrated to other worlds within The United Worlds, The Rin Sovereignty and The Hextlan Accord.Biology
Morphology
Dakutha are classified as animals with trilateral symmetry and a medusan silhouette. In pre-adult form the dakuth's body make up most of the mass, but will be outgrown by the ralkine bell and symbiont microcosm in adult form.
To adress questions sent to us: If each of the three symbiotic organisms would be examined separately, the dakuth would likely be classified as a cephalopoid animal, the magut as a tryptotube plant, and the ralk as a colony of fractaline microbes. We may be able to offer more in-depth articles on the separate species in the future.
Anatomy & Physiology Under Construction
Sensory Capabilities Under Construction
Dietary Needs & Habits
Dakutha are mixotrophs, whose primary mode of nutrition will change over the course of development from planula to adult. In all stages of growth, the magut handles the expulsion accumulated waste through the manubrium located on the dakuth's underside. Furthermore, a dakuth will remain in any of their pre-adult stages indefinitely if they cannot meet the energy quota needed for continued growth and development.
The fact that its possible to essentially 'freeze' their development by restricting their access to food, and their seeming immunity to aging, has led to illegal capturing and smuggling of polyp and medusa dakuth becoming an increasing problem. These are sold as exotic pets under a variety of false names.
Symbiont Microcosm
The space between the dakuth body and the ralkine bell increases as they grow. Once it's no longer needed as a swim bladder in the adult stage, it's repurposed into an enclosed microcosm. Over the course of several years, the dakuth will develop an ecosystem featuring all the species required for a nearly self-sustaining holobiont. Their minute control over several body functions, and their other symbionts, allows the dakuth to finetune the gas mixture, pressure, humidity, temperature and light levels within the bell to ensure the environment remains ideal. The sensory organ is expanded into a biolumen lens, capable of taking in and storing natural light and warmth, so that ideal temperture and light levels can be maintained. The retia organ is likewise repusposed, and serves to maintain the ideal gas mix and pressure. Connections with the magut allows for controlled intake or expulsion of gas/water if necessary. It can take the dakuth several decades to reach the state where the ecosystem is stable enough to be mostly self-sufficient.While the majority utilize the aquatic biomes of their homeworld to build their symbiont microcosm, cosmopolitan dakutha have been known to spend considerable amounts of extra time and effort to meticulosly recreate unique and exotic biomes as a form of creative art and as a fashion statement. One of particular fame is Orokor and their delicate aerocrystalline garden.
Genetics
Life Cycle
Dakutha progress through five stages of growth, with an energy-intensive transitional phase between each. The stages are called planula, polyp, medusa, adult, and verd. Living under ideal conditions, it takes a dakuth at minimum 50 years to finish development from planula to verd. Once they're fully fledged adults, dakutha appear to be able to continue to grow in size indefinitely and, as far as is known, don't undergo [tooltip:Gradual deteoritation of functional characteristics in living organisms, also known as biological aging.]senescence.Reproduction
The dakuth organism are sequential hermaphrodites, changing fom sexless to male to female and then back to sexless during their developmental stages. The magut and ralk organisms remain simultaneous hermaphrodites throughout their lifetime. Mating is instigated by the adult female diving into the ocean and releasing a pheromone, attracting sexually mature medusa. Once in proximity, the medusa release sperms and spores from the brood chambers into the open seawater. The female's magut will use its filtration system to separate the sperm and spores from other suspensions, and direct them to the brood chambers for fertilization. Some self-fertilization of magut and ralk spores is typical, but tend to be a non-issue as the infertile offspring they generate will be vastly outnumbered by viable offspring. Once all eggs are fertilized they'll stop producing pheromones and the medusa will scatter shortly after. The female will generally remain close to the ocean's surface, near a body of land, to maximize possible sources of food until the eggs and spores have formed planula ready to be released into the ocean. Females will only mate once in their lifetime. Some dakutha choose to wait several decades before deciding to return to New Dakuun with the intent of mating and growing young, while a few feel no urge to procreate at all. It's also not uncommon for dakutha to mate before they leave New Dakuun to pursue a life elsewhere in the galaxy, and hold the growing young in their brood chambers until they decide to return.Growth Rate & Stages
As mentioned above, dakutha go through five distinct stages of growth, with an intermittent transitional phase that requires a considerable amount of stored energy to trigger and successfully complete. Dakuth that can't fill the required energy quota suspend its growth and development until their living conditions improve.Planula
The fertilized egg of a female dakuth will remain within the brood chamber as it develops into a planula over the course of a minimum of eight standard months. Initially the egg will be attached to the wall of the brood chamber in order to receive oxygen and nutrients directly from nearby circulatory veins.
Once grown enough, a colony of ralk and a magut larva will be flushed from their separate brood chambers into that of the dakuth egg. The ralk eat through the gelatinous shell of the egg, detaching it from the brood chamber's wall in the process, and encapsulates the embryo as a thin, protective sheath with a small pocket of air left at the topside. Microscopic food matter start to circulate into the brood chamber from the gastrovascular cavity, forcing the developing planula to learn to feed on its own.
The magut larva will attach near the forming mandibrium and metamorphoses into it's sponge-like adult form. It'll soon grow to encapsulate the mandibrium and proto-tentacles. Ganglions and nerve net serving as a combined circulatory system develops shortly after and connects the three organisms together. One of these ganglions always form at the very top of the planula, and eventually grows into the lens-like sensory organ. Another close-by ganglion develops into the rete mirabele (sh. retia) organ, responsible for thermoregulation and diffusing gases through countercurrent exchange.
Once the three combs of cilia grow on the ralk's outer shell, the planula has finished it's growth and will soon be flushed out of the brood chamber to survive on their own. A dakuth typically remain as a planula for 2-4 years, relying primarily on filter feeding. Most of this time is spent around coral reefs, where they can hide from predators.
The planula is initially around 2-3cm in diameter, and grows to 26-32cm in diameter. During this time, their proto-temtacles will develop into nine proper tentacles.
by Nimin N.
Polyp
Once ready to transition to the next stage, the planula will search for an ideal spot where it can anchor itself and adopt a sessile lifestyle as a polyp for the next 8-10 years. During this time it'll grow to ~1.2m, including the tentacles.
Three tentacles will be used as tethers, at first by grappling onto nearby fixtures. Over time, these will be overgrown by the magut, becoming stiff clamps to hold onto rocky formations. Another three develop into proboscis with a leaf-shaped appendage for grasping and crushing. Each proposcis has a canal connecting to the gastrovascular cavity, allowing for direct ingestion of liquid or mashed matter. The proboscis and remaining tentacles will also grow nobs on one side, through which spicules otherwhise embedded in the mesoglea can be pushed through with muscular contractions. These are sharp and needle-like, acting as barbs to improve grip.
During the polyp stage, the ralk and magut will see major growth spurts. The magut will form a tubular 'cup' to encase the core body of the dakuth, leaving only about one fourth exposed. The ralk colony multiplies and retreats from serving as an epidermis and instead begins to grow into a bell-like shape around the exposed upper half of the dakuth. The extra space within the bell is filled with water, though the gas mix and pressure within is finetuned to aid it in staying upright.
Once the magut's growth slows down again, the internal organs will develop further, especially the brain mass of the ganglions — allowing for more complex sentient behaviors. A trio of gonads will also begin to grow near the end of the polyp stage.
by Nimin N.
Medusa
Transition to the next stage begin once the reproductive organs are fully developed and the dakuth reaches sexual maturity as a male. Simultaneous with this, the magut reassigns a number of outer radial canals as brood chambers. While the medusa doesn't see any significant growth in length at this stage, but it'll see a significant increase in bulk and usually also grow additional tentacles and proboscis.
Several long combs of cilia grow from the ralkine bell, and the medusa returns to being an active swimmer. During this stage they're at their most aggressive, being active predators hunting other marine life. Their hunting ability improves over time as the magut-covered appendages begin to mineralize and harden, then segmenting with tough and flexible membrane so they begin to reseble elongated lwgs. The tips are strengthened with silicates, forming a clawed toe that can be used to stab and hold prey.
Contact with an adult female's pheromones will instinctively draw it towards it, and also trigger the production of male gametes in the dakuth, and spores in the magut and ralk. All of these will aggregate in the brood chambers. Once is close proximity of the female, the magut will open the brood chambers and flush out their contents into the open seawater.
Adult
Once they have finished the medusa stage growth, which takes about 5 years, and mated at least one time they can transition into the adult stage. The first change is a significant size increase of the gonads, shortly followed by the production of female gametes. Any still remaining male gametes kept in the brood chambers are flushed into the gastrovascular cavity for digestion.
Food intake increases and shifts back to an omnivorous diet to support increase in nerve and brain cell generation. This will contribute to emerging sapience and a fine conteol over bodily fuctions after ~5 years. This often lead to the dakuth starting to travel longer distances in search for food, often becoming more deliberate in their search, as well as more selective and analytical. The three appendages see increasing use in locomotion in shallower regions.
Once food is no longer considered a critical concern, the dakuth start indulging in curiosity of their own capabilities and exploration of their surroundings. If they find older adults they'll get through this phase in a year or two, but otherwise instinct and persistence will drive them to eventually learn what they need to successfully survive on land and start cultivating a microcosm inside their ralkine bell. Without support from experienced adults, this learning curve can be between 8-15 years, with another 2-5 years to establish a stable symbiont microcosm.
Verd
Upon completion of their active life cycle and entering the post-reproduction stage called verd, they have essentially reached their fully developed state. At this point, they will continue to grow in size as long they have enough food to support it but otherwise appear to be biologically immortal.
This stage of development was originally called 'prime', but was changed to verd to show reverence and distinction to the primes that brought their species to Rosepetal.In most cases, the transition to verd happen shortly after an adult has mated and released their young. Adult that have no desire to reproduce can induce a false transition by emitting the pheromone normally used to attract medusa. This will trigger the release of unfertilized eggs from the ovi and the dakuth can then choose to expel the eggs. Their body will treat this as if having gone through the last reproduction step and allow ithem to transition to the sexless verd. In the transition a last set of eggs will be produced and deposited into their designated brood chambers before the ovum and oviducts undergo internal cannibalization, becoming absorbed into the mesoglea. The eggs are hatched into haploid planula that will be grown to fill out the entire brood chamber, with their sensory organs facing outward — giving the impression of eyes. Leftover brood chambers are converted back into usable radial canals.
by Nimin N.
The art is gorgeous and I really love into how much detail you have gone here. Great article on a very different species. Also love the inclusion of the concept sketches.