Tishad Flower

Template:Fauna Its an apex predator native of the planet Ganesha of the Intergalactic Federation, located in the Akai Nebulae and the Lewis Galaxy. It is pretty much known for its peculiar form and physical appearance. It is most commonly referred to as a *"Tishad"*. The name flower is misleading, since its more an animal than a plant. The early colonist gave it this name for its similar appearance and shape with that of a flower.

Most of the human colonist native of Ganesha know about the Tishad, and thus avoid the ponds. The animal is somehow easily avoided by humans by staying away from ponds and places were the animals may be hidden. Incidents in Ganesha are minimal.

Many Tishad have been taken to many terraformed ecosystems and Zoos all over the Intergalactic Federation and other Lewis Nations. Even the Emperors of the Empire of Mankind are said to have some in their Zoo-Botanical garden in their Imperial Palace.

## Characteristics

It has the shape of a flower decorated with teeth and hunts in the deep jungles and obscure water ponds of the jungles of Ganesha.

The Tishad flower is known for its dark color but sometimes and depending on subspecies and the environments they have evolved in, change in color. From red-orange individuals in the savannas of Ganesha to the muddy brownish animals in the marshes of the Planet. However, the Ponds of the Large jungles are its main natural habitat, and those animals are either black, greenish or bluish in color. Special to hide in the shadows of the caves, or their bluish/green color to hide better inside water as camouflage.

They have usually a sting-tale in their back, that they use in their attacks sometimes to paralyze a prey but most likely to stop any predator. They have as well six limbs, who are tentacles that act as such but also as roots, absorbing water (this is the way they drink), take nutrients extra sometimes from the soil, walk and excavate ground ponds and as tools for the caring of eggs, manage of prey detritus and other functions.

## Behaviour and Predation

The areas were they live are home to large animals who roam and walk over the forest but tend to slip into the ponds, and the Tishad Flower is there to swallow them. Sometimes, they also hide in the shadows on open ponds and wait for animals to come drink. When they do so, they use their tentacles who slowly move underwater to surprise their prey, hold it and swallow it after. They also produce pheromones to attract flying creatures of their planet to them.  The creature is however slow in its movements and attracts its prey by standing still and causing them to approach him.

There are two varieties of the Tishad. The ground version and the water pond version. The first one is more rare and lives mostly in marshes and savannas, but is unlikely to be found anywhere else. The Water pond Tishad lives in natural low dept ponds, in which animals in the jungle come to drink or fell from above.

The Tishad that lives in Marshes and Savannas, tends to bury itself in the ground, just like the Water pond Tishad does in the water of the pond, and surprise their preys. The ones in Marshes and Savannahs are less numerous, although bigger and have different skin colors.

## Reproduction

They are solitary and they rarely leave their natural prey territory. Once every decade, the Male liberates something called "Dusty Spots", which are similar to Pollen but as big as a chicken egg into the air, and it travels with the wind, attracted to the Ponds of females that have at the same time liberated pheromones indicating they are ready to reproduce. This Dusty Spots are attracted and drown towards the spots of females. Here, they are harvested by the female, that swallows them, and thus their body takes them to their reproductive system. The Dusty Spot can be taken from several different males, and the Dusty Spots can reach as well to several females.

After a year, the Tishad lays around twenty eggs in a nest she has carefully prepared during this time. After four months the eggs hatch and leave small Tishad out that are taken care by the mother for over five years when they reach a meter or so. Then they are expelled by the mother and have to move to find their own hunting spot. Most died during this period, with maybe 3 surviving this exodus, out of 20. Sometimes predators attack them in their travel journey. Sometimes, they reach a pond or a hunting spot taken by a Tishad who may hunt them or kill them. Once the offspring is gone, the females becomes again receptive to Dusty spots, and thus liberates pheromones again.