Shoredancer

Shoredancer
(Suctupascens phocavis)
Information
Creator	Nergali Other
Week/Generation	27/167
Habitat	Adult: Austin Temperate Bay; Juvenile: Austin Temperate Beach
Size	Male: 2.4 m Long; Female: 2 m Long
Primary Mobility	Unknown
Support	Endoskeleton (Chitin)
Diet	Adult: Carnivore (Strainerbeak, Floating Pumpgill, Southern Gillfin, Diamond Pumpgill, Scuttleball Gillfin, Speckled Pumpgill, Follower Gilltail, Finback, Seafin, Southern Strainerbeak); Juvenile: Scavenger, Carnivore (Leepi Meepi, Floraverms, Digging Filterpeders, Teacup Saucebacks, Gamergate Gundis, Minikruggs)
Respiration	Active (Microlungs)
Thermoregulation	Endotherm (Feathers)
Reproduction	Sexual (Male and Female, Eggs)
Taxonomy
Domain Kingdom Subkingdom Phylum Clade Subphylum Superclass Class Clade Subclass Order Family Genus Species	Eukaryota Binucleozoa Symbiovermes (info) Thoracocephalia Coluripoda Vermitheria (info) Cephalischia (info) Dromeodonta Eudromeodonta Neodromeodonta Apatodromeodonta Lapiscatoridae Suctupascens Suctupascens phocavis

Ancestor:	Descendants:
Rockshorian

Over the course of millions of years, the descendants of some rockshorians in Wallace began to abandon the shores and fully take to the water, lured by the overabundance of food to be found within its depths. Shaped by this new environment its various pressures, the shoredancers are what ultimately arose from this seagoing venture. A rarity amongst saucebacks, as adults they are nearly fully aquatic in nature, only ever leaving the water in order to reproduce, as they still landbound due to the requirements of their eggs. As such, females are bound to return to land, while males, lacking this necessity, can remain water bound and thus tend to both larger and more robust than their counterparts.

Amongst their adaptations to living in the water, such growing both larger and more streamlined compared to their terrestrial ancestors, the shoredancers have other prominent traits that aid them. Their feathers are short and dense, forming a thick, waterproof coat that retains heat and helps keep them remain buoyant while swimming. The prominent feathers of their "heads" are now more tuff-like in appearance and have become highly sensitive to vibrations in the water, helping these sightless predators to not only locate food and find mates, but to also avoid obstacles and other potential threats. Their sensitive nostrils also aid them in regard to hunting, while their tusks, now less suited for manipulating prey, instead aid these saucebacks by detecting the temperature of the surrounding waters thanks to the now denser growth of nerves found within them. A fin-like structure extends from their tails, supported internally by bands of unsclerotized chitin. This structure allows for shoredancers to move swiftly through the water in conjunction with rapids kicks of their legs, and they elegantly swim about with twists and turns as they do so, giving rise to their names.

Perhaps the most prominent change to the shoredancer, at least in comparison to the rockshorian, is what has become of their "rocky shells", or at least what remains of them. The overhanging, bulky shell of their ancestors would only slow them down in water, so evolution favored those that reduced this structure back towards a more traditional sauce. The constant growth of new layers, however, has not been lost. The outermost layer is shed routinely in order to maintain a streamlined nature, not giving time for erosion to create cracks and such that dominated the shells of rockshorians. Similarly, the tail club has shrunken significantly and also smoothed out. The tail can still provide a nasty whack to a potential predator, however, should the need arise.

Adult shoredancers primarily hunt smaller, "bite-sized" prey that they can readily swallow whole. As they rely less on their oral ring of teeth for chewing, their teeth now point slightly backwards towards the back of the throat in order to aid in preventing prey from escaping once consumed. While their guts are fairly proficient at breaking down what they eat, they do receive aid from an outside source. Shoredancers will swallow small, smooth stones to help grind down food. These stones also help to partially counteract the buoyancy of their feathers.

Moving on land is difficult for adults, as both their toes and legs have adapted more towards pushing themselves through water than walking on solid ground. But nonetheless females must return to the land in order to reproduce, for while mating may occur in the water, their eggs require significantly dryer conditions than what the bay can offer them. With stumbling steps, they emerge from the water under the cover of darkness, constructing small nests that they dig up with their tusks - another function they are useful for. Once satisfied with how deep they are, the females will lay a clutch of up to a dozen eggs and then cover them with bits and pieces of rotten vegetation which they glue together with their spit to create a camouflage. Once this is done, unlike many of their kin they will provide no further care to their offspring and will instead return to the water.

Kept warm by the rotting vegetation, the eggs will remain buried for over two months before the juveniles lying within them begin to emerge. After clawing through their eggs and consuming the shells, the young will dig free of their nests and instinctively make a beeline for the safety of low-growing foliage and larger bushes. Their mode of locomotion is unique amongst young of saucebacks, for their fairly well-developed claws allow them to lift themselves up and, aided by a thick tail that they can use to push themselves off of the ground, can move surprisingly quickly in a manner that could almost be described as a bounding hop. They are already effective little hunters at this age, preying upon a wide variety of small creatures that they can swallow whole, a list that only further expands as they put on weight and grow larger with age. Hunger fuels their tenacity, and they are even known to risk being exposed out in the open in order venture onto the shores of Austin Bay in order to dig up the burrows of digging filterpeders during low tide for a tasty snack.

The juveniles that manage to survive their first three years will have grown large enough - typically at around half a meter in length - via gradual metamorphosis to have taken on several of their adult characteristics, such as the start of their waterproof feathering. With these changes, they begin to be instinctively drawn to the water. They will venture into the bay, diving after prey that dwell close to shore as they develop their swimming legs and pick up the skills that will aid them in the open waters in the future. This period tends to last between five and six months, and the young shoredancers will rapidly put on further weight as they fuel their growth with the bounty of the bay. Within a year of taking to the water, these now meter-long subadults will have already separated themselves from one another, with females forming social groups composed of up to two dozen members for protection, while males instead living more solitary lives though have been known to form small bands of two or three members. These shoredancers will reach sexual maturity within another year and, should they manage to avoid predators and other threats, have the potential to live for another twenty years or so before old age takes them.