Asteridermus

## Asteridermus gibbosi

Timespan: Gnathian Stage of the Atroxian (R.41 - R.59)

Habitat: Deep Ocean, Continental Slope (Mid Ocean)

Distribution: Under Temperate and Tropical Uteenessa Ocean, below 1000m

Niche: Minor Predator

Size: 7cm

Predecessor: Skelechelus inkenaria

Classification: Makryostusidae, Spinacheliforme, Caudara

Info: This was not one of the largest or most fearsome predators of the deep, but at the same time, there was little prey that was the right size to sustain it. There were very small benthic filter-feeders like Glistroskulus or Achmachelus etalas which were much better swimmers; with no buoyancy, Asteridermus gibbosi had to keep to the floor. Their bioluminescent lights were also uncontrolled and gave away the predators position.As such, they were not very common animals.

Description: This species had a tapering, pigmentless body with a pair of toxic spikes at the end of its tail, and was spotted with light-blue bioluminescent lights. It had a cartilage jawed mouth with primitive teeth alongside olfactory receptors and two cup eyes on the head. At the back of the head were three gills on each side. As well as a line of electroreceptors, the body had a fatty hump and is supported by a vertebrae of cartilage. There is also a pair of oval pectoral fins. The mouth opened to the gut, which lead to a primitive stomach containing carnivorous digestive bacteria. The body is powered by muscles with special vacuoles and is circulated by an open circulatory system, whilst being coordinated by a nervous system composed of a tiny brain and two nerve cords, crossed by nerves.

Cause of Extinction: Outcompeted

Discoverer: Blackink

## Asteridermus luminaria

Status: NT

Timespan: R.59 - Present

Habitat: Mid Ocean, Deep Ocean

Distribution: Non-polar Ocean, Below the thermocline

Niche: Predator, Carnivorous Filter-Feeder

Nutritional Value: 40

Size: 7cm (length)

Predecessor: Asteridermus gibbosi

Classification: Achmachelusidae, Tyrannidea, Caudaria

Latest Mutations: Olfaction = 4, Temperature Tolerance = 6, Control Bioluminescence = 3

Info: This species very closely resembles its ancestor, owning a long tapering body with flashing bioluminescent lights, except it is now black. The other differences are much more difficult to spot; above the mouth, invisible to the naked eye are olfactory receptors, which provide a rudimentary way of tracking prey and mapping its surroundings. Electrolocation is still much more useful and precise. A development in the area of the brain allows Asteridermus luminaria to have more control over its bioluminescence. It can turn them on and off at will, but does so all at once with all of them. The spots cannot be controlled individually but as a group. Internally, this animal has adapted its body's chemistry to cope with the temperatures of shallower water, including temperate and tropical seas. It is therefore much more widespread then it's predecessor, and slightly more successful. It would live in tropical seas too, except there is no sustainable food source there for this species.

Description: This species has a black, tapering body with a pair of toxic spikes at the end of its tail, and is spotted with light-blue bioluminescent lights. It has a cartilage-jawed mouth with primitive teeth alongside olfactory receptors and two cup eyes on the head. At the back of the head are three gills on each side. As well as a line of electroreceptors, the body has a fatty hump and is supported by a vertebrae of cartilage. There is also a pair of oval pectoral fins. The mouth opens to the gut, which leads to a primitive stomach containing carnivorous digestive bacteria. The body is powered by muscles with special vacuoles and is circulated by an open circulatory system, whilst being coordinated by a nervous system composed of a tiny brain and two nerve cords, crossed by nerves.

Previous Mutations: Extra-Efficient Muscles, Electroreceptors, Open Circulatory System, Tail, Three Gill Slits, Cartilage Vertebrae, Digestive Carnivorous Bacteria, Two Poisonous Spikes on Tail, Dentine Teeth, Cup Eyes, Jaw, Fins (two vertical near head), Hump, Bioluminescent Lights

Discoverer: Blackink

## Asteridermus failurenos

Timespan: Fressian Stage of the Atroxian (R.66)

Habitat: Deep Ocean, Continental Slope (Mid Ocean), Shallow Sea

Distribution: Under Temperate and Tropical Ocean, All Temperate and Tropical Seas

Niche: Minor Predator

Size: 3.5cm

Predecessor: Asteridermus luminaria

Classification: Makryostusidae, Spinacheliforme, Caudara

Info: In this species, mutation led to disastrous results, as the nervous system become damaged and did not function properly, leading to a quick extinction.

Description: This species had a tapering, black body with a pair of toxic spikes at the end of its tail, and was spotted with light-blue bioluminescent lights. It had a cartilage jawed mouth with primitive teeth alongside olfactory receptors and two cup eyes on the head. At the back of the head were three gills on each side. As well as a line of electroreceptors, the body had a fatty hump and is supported by a vertebrae of cartilage. There is also a pair of oval pectoral fins. The mouth opened to the gut, which lead to a primitive stomach containing carnivorous digestive bacteria. The body is powered by muscles with special vacuoles and is circulated by an open circulatory system, whilst being coordinated by a frayed nervous system composed of a tiny brain and two nerve cords, crossed by nerves.

Cause of Extinction: Unfit

Discoverer: Blackink

## Asteridermus mutatiogenus

Status: EN

Timespan: R.83 - Present

Habitat: Mid Ocean, Deep Ocean

Distribution: Non-polar Ocean, Below the thermocline

Niche: Carnivorous Filter-Feeder
Nutritional Value: 62.5

Size: 10.5cm (length)

Predecessor: Asteridermus luminaria

Classification: Achmachelusidae, Tyrannidea, Caudaria

Latest Mutations: Bigger = 4, Genders = 5, Oily Liver = 3

Info: This was not the first animal to evolve separate genders; Petrocoilius, a member of the same class but different order had done this about four and a half million years ago in the rivers of the northern hemisphere. But the special thing about Asteridermus mutatiogenus is that it has not two but three gender castes. A male, a female and a hermaphrodite. For most of its life, a hermaphrodite Asteridermus will have both male and sexual parts. However, when it comes to mating, the hermaphrodite will morph its sexual organs in response to pheromones from the mate. A male mate will give off pheromones which will encourage the hermaphrodite to become female, and it works the other way if the mate is a female. Once it morphs, it cannot change again in its lifetime. This means that, although this tactic is good because it might fill a gap in the short term, it does not have a huge effect on the population as it essentially becomes a normal adult. Other than this and the fact that it is slightly larger, there is little physical difference between Asteridermus mutatiogenus and its predecessor. It is reduced to mostly feeding off of scraps of marine snow, and it is too large to live off its predecessor's prey, and has to compete with the more effective Thanostoma altium.

Description: It has a black, tapering body, lined with electroreceptors and three gills on each side. Blue, bioluminescent spots dot the skin, which can be turned on and off as a whole. Behind the head, there is a fatty hump on the back. The squat tail has a pair of poisonous spikes. It has two pectoral ray-fins. Small olfactory receptors above the mouth and a pair of forward-facing cup eyes are on the head, as well as a cartilage jaw with small, simple teeth. An open circulatory system bathes the organs in hemacoel, and the body is controlled by ganglia. Down the back are cartilage vertebrae. In the gut, is a primitive stomach with the ability to digest multicellular matter.

Previous Mutations: Extra-Efficient Muscles, Electroreceptors, Open Circulatory System, Tail, Three Gill Slits, Cartilage Vertebrae, Digestive Carnivorous Bacteria, Two Poisonous Spikes on Tail, Dentine Teeth, Cup Eyes, Jaw, Fins (two vertical near head), Hump, Bioluminescent Lights, Olfaction, Temperate and Tropical Tolerance, Bioluminescence Control

Discoverer: BlackInk