Gillpede

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Gillpede
(Mollipoda myriapodus)
Artwork of Gillpede
Species is extant.
Creator Ethos Other
Taxonomy
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Eukaryota
Cilliognathiozoa
Siphonoverma
Chrysobranchia
Mollipodes
Mollipodidae
Mollipoda
Mollipoda myriapodus
Week/Generation 25/157
Habitat Jujubee Ocean (Midnight Zone), Jujubee Ocean (Abyssal Slope), Jujubee Ocean (Abyssal Floor)
Size 20 cm Long
Primary Mobility Unknown
Support Unknown
Diet Detritivore
Respiration Passive (Transcutaneous)
Thermoregulation Ectotherm
Reproduction Asexual, Eggs laid in carcasses or in mud

The gillpede split from its ancestor, the glowgill. Pressure from predation and random wandering led to a slow adaptation to even deeper waters. In the lack of photosynthetic microbes, there was less need to swim. Some of its glowing feelers lengthened for walking along the midnight and abyssal slopes. Here, the accumulation of detritus and the occasional sunken carcass of fauna such as the lurking lyngbakr, cerulean gillfin, greater wolley, floating pumpgill, etc. provides abundant food and nesting places. The lack of competition and predators has allowed them to populate the Jujubee Ocean floor all along the midnight and abyssal floor. This new open niche and the deeper environment has caused abyssal gigantism and it has more than tripled in size.