Fortune Evolution Game II Part II: 2

File: megawiggle.png (20KB, 500x500px) Image search: [Google]

20KB, 500x500px

>>1022656
The most important organism to Fortune's ecosystem is the Megawiggle, a mostly sedentary filter-feeder that forms large colonies, or "clusters", of genetically identical individuals. Clusters most closely resemble tumbleweeds, taking the form of large (~3 meters) spheres of interconnected Megawiggle that slowly drift through shallow waters, turning to give equal sunlight to the algae they feed off of. They mainly group together for protection, as well as to form a crude circulatory system that moves algae to the edge of the cluster and distributes nutrients. Megawiggle have three tentacles, covered in regenerating cilia that are used to filter algae and other microorganisms from the water. It lives in close symbiosis with the next organism.

File: mupper.png (14KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

14KB, 400x400px

>>1022669
The Mupper is technically a carnivore, although in practice it's lifestyle is much closer to a herbivore. they live within Megawiggle clusters, and feed off of the regenerating cilia. This relationship is mutualistic, as the Mupper constantly produces a thick gel that is the perfect environment for a complex microbiome of single-celled organisms, mostly algae. These in turn nourish the host cluster. The Mupper can also secrete a dark, foul-tasting, toxic ink that it uses to deter predators from entering the colony. The mainly navigate through a weak sense of smell/taste using their tongues, and respond to chemical signals sent by Megawiggle to release gel or ink. Since most of their energy is taken doing these two activities, they spend most of their time floating inactive within the cluster, following the circulatory current the Megawiggle produce.

File: slurper.png (12KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

12KB, 400x400px

>>1022676
Slurpers are more direct carnivores. They form thick gel cocoons around themselves in order to enter Megawiggle cluster, using their semi-prehensile tongues to feast on cilia. Since their tongue has lost it's sense of taste in order to ignore Mupper ink, they instead sense with basic compound eyes. The cocoon they form is not impermeable, and slowly becomes diffused with ink. When the inside becomes too toxic, they abandon it and form a new one.

File: pinkie.png (12KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

12KB, 400x400px

>>1022680
The Pinkie is a ground-based omnivore, mainly feeding on detritus. It has a strong, prehensile mouth which it can prolapse in order to "jump" several feet off of the seafloor. It also has a moveable anus which it can swivel to shoot at any predators that come too close. This is covered in a ring of eyes in order to better detect threats. They mainly feed by traveling in a straight line along the ground, sucking up dirt and filtering it for nutrients.

File: sluggle.png (16KB, 500x500px) Image search: [Google]

16KB, 500x500px

>>1022688
Suggle are well-defended, slow-moving filter-feeder. When threatened, it retracts it's feeding tentacle into it's rubbery body and clamps down on the ground, counting on it's hard but flexible shell for defense. They can crawl along the ground to slowly relocate, but mostly stay in place to save energy.

File: blipper.png (12KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

12KB, 400x400px

>>1022695
Blipper are some of the largest single organisms on Fortune, nearing a foot long in extreme cases. They are fast-moving filter-feeders that use a complex system of organs and structures to produce a constant jet of water. These adaptations also give them very good pressure resistance; coupled with their size, this lets them dive impressively deep to escape predators. They are named for a pair of muscular, fluid-filled discs on their underside which are used to echolocate.

File: pinkiemedusa.png (14KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

14KB, 400x400px

>>1022706
The Pinkiemedusa behaves similar to it's ground-based cousin, but has even better eyesight and a thin frill attached to its legs that it uses to swim. This frill can also be used to stir up sand, allowing it to suck up any small, hidden organisms.

File: slapper.png (11KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

11KB, 400x400px

>>1022712
Slapper are vicious predators that are the penultimate step on Fortunes food web. They incapacitate prey with a powerful tail slap, then use their hooked beaks to disembowel it; this brutally efficient method of hunting minimizes the risk of injury from struggling prey. They sense similar to terrestrial snakes, flicking their sensitive forked tongues out of a specialized "nostril" to smell. Their bodies are crisscrossed by a series of vents that cover them in a thin layer of slippery mucus, helping them slip through the water faster and wiggle away from predators.

File: niggle.png (17KB, 500x500px) Image search: [Google]

17KB, 500x500px

>>1022718
Finally, the Niggle is Fortunes apex consumer, a large ambush predator that uses it's unique tooth-filler mouth and powerful tentacles to kill anything that it can catch. It's mouth is actually nonfunctional, used only to hold and cut up prey, and it feeds by absorbing nutrients through it's "fingers". The biggest weakness the Niggle has is a lack of sense organs, instead relying on using it's fingers to feel disturbances in the water. Since they are closely related to Megawiggle and have no sense of smell or taste, they are able to enter clusters with little ill effect, which they frequently take advantage of by feasting themselves on Muppers and Megawiggles.