Parateuthis

## Parateuthis venatus

Status: NT

Temporal Range: R.114 - Present (Novaglacian)

Habitat: Temperate Deep Ocean, Tropical Deep Ocean (Below Thermocline, Above 800m)

Distribution: Cosmopolitan

Niche: Pelagic Filter-Feeder

Size: 8.5cm (length)

Nutritional Worth:

Predecessor: Thalakelphus narefaciemis

Classification: Zestoskulusinae (sf), Kapnostidae (f), Protocorda (o), Cylindrea (c), Bilateria (p)

Perception: Can hear noises within 10 metres, can smell odours within 10 metres, has upwards blurry binocular vision and blurry forwards vision.

Latest Mutations: Carnivorous Digestive Bacteria, Teeth, True Eye

Info: In the ocean gloom of depths between 500 and 800m, floats this carnivorous Zestoskuline, this first of its kind. It can now digest meat, and preys on shellfish and smaller predators. Furthermore, Parateuthus has horny teeth made of keratin to rip up its soft prey, after grabbing it with its tentacles and shoving it in its mouth. In its is common, especially with a large, if sparse, supply of food and no predators. It is outcompeting its predecessor, Thalakelphus.

Anatomy: It has a smooth, straight shell made of calcium carbonate with several medium-length tentacles sticking out the front covered in poison glands. The round mouth has a few teeth made of keratin. On the face is a couple areas where minuscule cilia which act as mechanoreceptors, picking up underwater noises and inputting this information into the nerve network and a pair of nostrils linked to sensory pads. On the head that just protrudes from the rest of the shell, two large pinhole eyes with lenses face upwards, while a large true eye with a lens supported by a vitreous cavity, all with photoreceptors, faces forwards. The skin that is uncovered is layered with heat-proof scales. External gill frills and four gill slits on each side protrude from the part uncovered by shell. At the rear, a muscular hyponome drags in water and uses it to propel itself quickly. This tube leads into the siphuncle, which manages water content inside the shell, creating buoyancy. A simple gut, behind the pharynx, leads through the body, which is circulated by a semi-open circulatory system; capillaries cover the muscles, which also have special vacuoles, but the rest of the organs are bathed in a chamber. A stomach chamber contains carnivorous stomach bacteria. The circulatory system is pumped by a tubular heart. A tiny brain and two nerve cords control the body. The body has vertebrae made of cartilage. It also has lower metabolism.
Behaviour: This species is capable of processing information gathered from sense receptors and using that to form a picture of its surroundings. It can then respond to stimuli. It also has basic reasoning.

Discoverer: StealthStyle

## Parateuthis piersonii

Status: NT

Temporal Range: R.127 - Present (Untrustolithic)

Habitat: Lower Ocean

Distribution: Cosmopolitan

Niche: Pelagic Filter-Feeder

Size: 15cm (length)

Nutritional Worth: (80.5/10 X 15 =) 120.8NP

Predecessor: Parateuthis venatus

Classification: Zestoskulusinae (sf), Kapnostidae (f), Protocorda (o), Cylindrea (c), Bilateria (p)

Perception: Can hear noises within 10 metres, can smell odours within 10 metres, has upwards blurry binocular vision and blurry forwards vision.

Latest Mutations: Larger

Info: This predator slowly moves through the deep, capturing unsuspecting little animals with its tentacles.

Anatomy: It has a smooth, straight shell made of calcium carbonate with several medium-length tentacles sticking out the front covered in poison glands. The round mouth has a few teeth made of keratin. On the face is a couple areas where minuscule cilia which act as mechanoreceptors, picking up underwater noises and inputting this information into the nerve network and a pair of nostrils linked to sensory pads. On the head that just protrudes from the rest of the shell, two large pinhole eyes with lenses face upwards, while a large true eye with a lens supported by a vitreous cavity, all with photoreceptors, faces forwards. The skin that is uncovered is layered with heat-proof scales. External gill frills and four gill slits on each side protrude from the part uncovered by shell. At the rear, a muscular hyponome drags in water and uses it to propel itself quickly. This tube leads into the siphuncle, which manages water content inside the shell, creating buoyancy. A simple gut, behind the pharynx, leads through the body, which is circulated by a semi-open circulatory system; capillaries cover the muscles, which also have special vacuoles, but the rest of the organs are bathed in a chamber. A stomach chamber contains carnivorous stomach bacteria. The circulatory system is pumped by a tubular heart. A tiny brain and two nerve cords control the body. The body has vertebrae made of cartilage. It also has lower metabolism.

Behaviour: This species is capable of processing information gathered from sense receptors and using that to form a picture of its surroundings. It can then respond to stimuli. It also has basic reasoning.

Discoverer: StealthStyle