White-striped Aquatick

Artwork

Weight:
10lbs

The **White-striped Aquatick** (*Cauponus albaclavatus*), also known as the **Uncle Sam Beetle**, is an original species created and designed by TheAgent41. The White-striped Aquatick inhabits the *The Hole* universe, an original universe created by TheAgent41.

## Appearance and Anatomy

The white-striped aquatick is a medium-sized insectiform that primarily inhabits desert and shrubland environments. Also referred to colloquially as the "Uncle Sam Beetle" due to its vaguely insectoid shape and coloration, C. albaclavatus had a body length of approximately two feet and a weight of 10-12 pounds. This weight can be increased depending on how much water the creature has consumed.

Like all members of its suborder, the aquatick's body consists of two segments similar to an Earth spider. The first, called the cephalothorax, contains all of the aquatick's organs and limbs. All insectiforms have four limbs ending in pointed feet. These feet are covered in tiny claws and hairs that allow them to climb sheer surfaces. The aquatick's mouth is a long tube-like proboscis that acts as a straw to suck up water from desert oases. The cephalothorax is covered with red hexagonal scales that make up its tough exoskeleton.

The second body segment, called the abdomen, has been adapted into a transparent, balloon-like sac that is normally empty but can be expanded with water. When fully expanded, the abdomen can contain nearly four gallons of water.

## Ecology

### Behavior and Intelligence

The white-striped aquatick is a solitary, desert-dwelling creature that has evolved rather well to arid environments. The most crucial adaptation is its expandable hollow abdomen. Because water is rare in the desert/shrubland environments in which it lives, the aquatick has had to adapt to make the most of what little water it can find. When an aquatick finds a rare oasis, it will, provided its abdomen is empty, drink up as much water as it can carry, as much as four gallons. This allows it to store the water and gradually drink from it for long periods of time. A full abdomen of water can last it for as long as one Earth month.

Unfortunately for the aquatick, its ability to act as a living canteen has not escaped the understanding of many other lifeforms. It is not uncommon to see aquatick corpses that appear to have been forcefully torn open by some predator looking for an easy source of water. Some bodies have been found with puncture wounds matching those made by desert bloodstriders.

### Diet

The water consumed and stored by the aquatick is not just a source of thirst-quencing water; it is also a source of food. Desert oases contain numerous species of photosynthetic microorganisms that are ingested along with the water. By slowly digesting the water over a long period of time, the aquatick is also capable of rationing out its store of microorganisms for long treks through the desert.

In a strange twist, some species of microorganisms actually rely on the aquatick for reproduction. When an aquatick begins inhaling water, there is a brief period where some water currently in its abdomen is flushed out into the oasis. This "backwash", as humans would colloquially call it, will occasionally deposit microorganisms that managed to avoid being digested into a new pool. Due to the large population of aquaticks, it is routine for the gene pool of a single oasis pond to be switched out constantly due to the influx of new organisms from other pools.

### Reproduction

White-striped aquaticks are opportunistic maters, a necessity in a vast desert where you never know when the next mate will come along. When two aquaticks meet, they will most likely mate with little to no hesitation. This is a stark contrast from most Achlysian lifeforms, which generally have some form of mating ritual or selection process.

When mating, one individual will climb on top of the other's cephalothorax such that they are facing a single direction. The individual on the top will begin to drip seminal fluid from its cloaca, which is positioned directly above the proboscis of the individual on the bottom. The bottom aquatick will catch as much of the fluid as it can in its proboscis, where it will then be transferred to the reproductive organs. After this is done, they will switch places and repeat the process. Aquaticks do not mate for life and will part ways immediately after intercourse.

Aquaticks have a very short gestation period, the young fully developing in under one Earth month. When the young are fully developed, the adults give live birth through their cloacas.

## Trivia

* The scientific name *Cauponus albaclavatus* loosely translates from Latin as "white-striped canteen".

## Gallery

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