Prongangels

Chemosynthesis, Planktivore, Consumer (males)

The megaorthoceros genus, also known by their common name, prongangels, contains many interesting species such as megaorthoceros segnoneustes, megaorthoceros holdfasti and the prongangel. It is a fairly diverse genus of microbes, most commonly found in freshwater environs but they can also be found in the ocean. The distinguishing feature of prongangels are their ridiculously long proboscises, which can be twice as long as the rest of the body.

Prongangels have a very extreme form of sexual dimorphism. The females are many times larger than the males and tend to have different diets as well. When a male prongangel encounters a female, it is ingested through the proboscis from there it takes on a symbiotic lifestyle, and becomes permanently bonded with her on the inside, where he will use nutrients gathered from her to survive, all the while fertilizing her for the budding process. This budding is little more than a highly-specialized form of mitosis.

Once fertilized, the female then begins to gain two bulbous growths that flank her tail, which grow into nearly full-sized females. Although these are essentially temporary, they can help balance the weight of the proboscis, allowing females carrying nearly-"matured" megaorthocerosi to fully counter-balance the proboscis and swim quite well. These buds possess a fully-developed body, but have smaller fins, tails, and proboscises, which must grow to full-size over time. This is to prevent the original female from killing herself by using too much of her own nutrients to create the two new females.

Males are created by females after they have reached about half their final size, and are "spit" out in a cloud by the female. Since half-grown females won't breed, these males cannot just turn around and fertilize her on the spot, and must seek other females instead.