Cerceps

## Cerceps cerceps

Latest Mutations: Antenna with odour receptors and touch receptors

The main prey of Cerceps is usually found along the seafloor, hidden in sand or under rocks. The antenna help it probe for food, especially in the dark, in the sediment or in tight spaces. It uses its legs to walk across the floor rather than swim, although it still retains all its abilities for swimming. Compound eyes keep a sharp eye out for both predator and prey. It's main weapon of attack is now the claw, which can grab and slice soft prey - the rostrum, which has moved up, is used as an extra defensive weapon.

Status: Unlisted

Habitat: Temperate Shallows, Temperate Upper Ocean

Niche: Predator

Size: 11cm (length)

Nutritional Worth: (163/10) x (11/10) = 17.9NP

Food / Oxygen Requirement: (17.9 x 0.6) x 0.9 = 9.7NP / 17.9NP

Abilities: Air Spaces. Anti-Freeze. Barrier Immune System. Circulation. Cutaneous Respiration. Gas Buoyancy. Liquid Excretion. Moderate UV Resistance. Moulting. Penetrates Hardness 1. Permeable Skin. Solid Excretion. Toxin.

Perception: Sight 1 (Clear sight to the front and side). View Angle 1. Chemoreception 1 (Senses chemicals 1m away). Smell 1 (Senses odours 1m away). Touch 1 (Senses pressure on antenna).

Stats: Agility 1. Buoyancy 1. Coordination 1. Desiccation Resistance 1. Dexterity 0.5. Digestion 2 (Can Break down Multicellular Matter, Can digest Meat). Intelligence 1. Filtration 1. Hardness 1. Respiration 1. Stamina 2. Strength 0.5. Support 1.5. Walk Speed 1.5. Jumping 1. Swim Speed 2.5.

Intelligence / Behaviour: Processes information and responds based on fixed behaviours. When observing a predator; swim away. When hungry; look for prey. When ready to reproduce, look for other adults and move towards them, then attempt to mate with the source.

External Features: Blue structural colouration gives the exoskeleton with many plates covering the cylindrical body a metallic, blue sheen. This covers the skin. The mouth has nearby chemoreceptors. A small, sharp keratin rostrum protrudes from the front of the head, and on each side of it is an antenna with touch and odour receptors. On the side of the head are a pair of compound eyes, with another pair on the sides. The exoskeleton sports two steering arms and four pairs of legs; the first are chelipeds which end in pincers (chela). The exoskeleton ends in a fan tail, and below this is a hyponome.

Internal Features: Spiracles at the edge of the body draw in water past gill-like structures. An open circulatory system transports blue blood around the body. Anti-freeze glycoproteins circulate in the body fluids. A nephridium funnels out chemical waste and expels it through a pore. The body is supported by a system of muscles. From the mouth, a tube leads to the stomach, then into the intestines and finally to the anus. A brain in the head connects to a nerve cord, which itself is connected to nerves like rungs of a ladder. In the centre of the body is a swim bladder, while below can be found testes and an ova. Throughout the whole body seeps a bitter fluid.

Locomotion Type: Walking. Paddling. Fluke Swimming. Hyponome Burst. Active. (20NP)

Reproduction: Sexual, Ovuliparity (External Fertilisation). 1,000 eggs. Hermaphroditism.

Castes/Phases: None.

External Features: Blue structural colouration (2NP, +Moderate UV Resistance). Chitin exoskeleton (10NP, +1 Hardness, +1 Desiccation Resistance, +1 Support, No Cutaneous Respiration, +Moulting). Steering Arms (4NP, +1 Agility). Rostrum (4NP, Weapon). Antenna (3NP). Skin (3NP, +1 Respiration, +1 Stamina, +Permeable Skin, +Cutaneous Respiration, +Barrier Immune System). Pincers (4NP, +Penetrates Hardness 1, +0.5 Dexterity). Mouth (+1 Filtration). Chemoreceptors (2NP, +1 Chemoreception). Odour Receptors (2NP, +1 Smell). Touch Receptors (2NP, +1 Touch). Four compound eyes (7NP, +1 Sight, +1 View Angle). Four pairs of legs (4NP, +1 Walk Speed, +1 Jumping, +0.5 Swim Speed). Hyponome (7NP, +0.5 Swim Speed). Fan tail (4NP, +1 Swim Speed).

Internal Features: Aquatic Spiracles (4NP, +1 Respiration, +1 Stamina), Open Circulatory System (9NP, +1 Stamina, +Circulation). Anti-Freeze Glycoproteins (2NP, +Anti-Freeze). Nephridium (7NP, +Liquid Excretion). Longitudinal Muscles (3NP, +0.5 Walk Speed, +0.5 Swim Speed, +0.5 Support, +0.5 Strength, +Crawling). Stomach (11NP, +1 Digestion, +Can Break Down Multicellular Matter, Can Digest Meat). Intestines (7NP, +1 Digestion, +Solid Excretion). Brain and nerve network (22NP, +1 Coordination, +1 Intelligence). Swim Bladder Without Duct (7NP, +1 Buoyancy, +Gas Buoyancy, +Air Space). Testes (5NP). Ova (5NP). Bitter Fluid (3NP, +Toxin).

Temporal Range: R.175 - Present (Nocturnus Stage of the Oliverian)

Distribution: Southern Hemisphere

Predecessor: Rostracephales cheleus

Classification: Rostracephalesinae (sf), Ziphorhynchusidae (f)

Lifespan: 2 years

Discoverer: StealthStyle