recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Flat Bastard

Flat Bastards are descendants of carpet needles who have evolved specifically to hunt down arrownets. while they aren't very big and fast, they are clever enough to profit off sea balls for protection.

as for the carpet needles who stayed for the arrownets, they had to adapt better for an open ocean life. the fins had to get larger and narrower for better swimming in this location, as well as the body. an unforeseen consequence of this was the development of a flat body, which would prove useful not only to hide under anything safe enough, but even to infiltrate the large arrownets' shoals, even during the crazily busy mating sessions. the tooth, now located right in front of the head, served well enough to suck away their prey's interiors. even them, like their less predaceous cousins, found a species to count on. but this time, the relationship could be called even parasitical. avoided by everything under the sun but themselves, sea balls seemed an extremely safe place to protect themselves in their jointers, especially when the species, thanks to this relationship, opted for a better reproductive strategy: eggs. these would be planted in a jointer, but not before liquifying the particular organ designed to create the joint in the sea balls (or in some cases, their buds). here the eggs would stay safe until they hatched, afterwards the larvaes would finally come out the hole to join the food chain. while it may seem an almost overspecialized species in certain points, it's nothenless a demonstration of how carpet needles, even after losing the title of top predator long ago due to various, not too lucky "design choices", can still overcome environemental challenges and adapt to an ever-changing biosphere. something that many creatures should learn from.
Flathead Killerworm

Flathead Killerworms are a member of the platemnita clade. like their ancestor, the buglar killerworms, they are hemophagic, but instead live an endoparasitic lifestyle.

Flathead Killerworm: as platemnites manage to reach the land too, they adapt for the bran dnew lifestyle required. for this, the buglar killerworms become the first endoparasite of nispe's history. this gut-dwelling descendant, called flathead killerworm for his characteristic shape, feeds off the blood, guts and bile of their hosts. it's life cycle is as unique as it is eerie: their eggs are laid inside the fresh leaves of succugrasses, in which they will keep hydrated. when these are eaten, the eggs will go down too. as they hatch in contact with the bile, the larvaes squirm into a safe zone, where they will eat all the time. sometimes, different broods can meet, and will mate together. after this, the worm will finally get out by the anus, and will have only a short time before laying it's eggs before dying, so the cycle can restart.
Amphisbena

The Amphisbena is a rare, peculiar species characterized by the presence of two mouths, with which snatches nearby preys from their holes.

### **Anatomy**

Unlike any other bilateran on Nispe, amphisbenas have two mouths. these are the main organ of activity of the species, following tasks such as hunting, digging and even mating. despite this, most of the organs of the amphisbena are located on the central segment. lastly, a small tail helps the creature on movement in the rare occasions it has to. it is believed that this peculiar bodyplan evolved sistematically from a repetition of the entire body from the lower end, which may have involved siamese larvaes. flat and slow, this creature's total lenght, ranging from mouth to mouth, doesn't reach 30 cm; despite that, the mouths are extremely extensible, able to ingurgitate creatures two times bigger than the whole amphisbena.

### **Biology**

Amphisbenas live underground almost all the time, rarely ever totally coming out of the surface: the mouths, instead poke out of each opening: provided with rather sensible organs at the extremities, they try to feel if anything noteworthy is passing by near them. once it makes contact with the prey, the amphisbena will quickly suck it in the mouth. amphisbenas can live for almost a year without food.

#### **Diet**

amphisbenas feed off any soft, but big enough creature that they lay feelers upon, such as wasp worms and young scutocephalans.

#### **Reproduction**

amphisbenas reproduce by mating, thought the process is very dangerous for them. on certain periods, they will come out of their hole entirely, slowly crawling around in search for their mate. once they have found it without getting eaten, they mate with one, or both, of their mouths: each of them is respectively provided with the first and second sex's organs, which makes one individual capable of both producing and fertilizing the eggs. despite this hermaphroditism, they rarely mate with themselves. once they are done, they will go back to their holes, or make one on the spot, where they will lay the eggs, easily protecting them from predators. at birth, the larvaes resemble worms more than their parents, living and digging inside the sand.

### **History**

while amphisbenas never were quite widespread, they gradually saw their habitat in the sea floor all over the world diminish, due to the evolution of many more species, both unpalatable and better at their job (or even hunting them). in the end, amphisbenas were relegated, along with many primitive and "obsolete" species, on the deepest and less habitated parts in the abyssal plains, where they currently find themselves home.
Xenish

The Xenish are aberrant descendants of the Xenions, in which both first-sexes and second-sexes present the free swimming characteristics.

### **Anatomy**

Xenishes evolved following the motile xenion form, and as such many adaptations arose to improve on it. the body has become more streamlined, but also keeps itself up better thanks to a strong supporting system growing alongside it's radial sections, akin to a notochordate's chord. a caudal fin has also appeared at the bottom end, now serving as the main form of propulsion, while the smaller ancestral fins now take the role of chemically-scenting sensory organs. sexual divergence is still present, in a very weird way: while the first-sex has a regular mouth, the second-sex possesses the typical beak-like reproductory organ in its place. unable to eat, these live for only a short period of time, in which they will have to reproduce as quickly as possible.

### **Biology**

the feeding first-sexes are active predators of nispe's shallower seas, adapted at hunting small preys. despite this, they are solitary animals, and will not hesitate to even try to eat another member of it's species that isn't a beaked second-sex. these ones, instead, are short-lived, but rather resilient creatures, which will survive for a few weeks trying to mate costantly before dying.

#### **Diet**

the Feeders will try to eat anything big enough to fit into their mouth, ranging from fishworms to xenions, to even members of the same species. occasionally thought, they may filter feed; while this can still sustain it, the feeder prefers hunting anytime over.

#### **Reproduction**

the reproduction cycle of the xenish is unique among nispe's lifeforms: every few weeks, after new xenishes mature, the beakeds will start searching for mates all over the ocean. once they have fertilized the eggs, they will quickly release them by spreading before dying (usually from fatigue). the larvaes, resembling much xenion's, will then take just a few weeks to mature, while they become part of the zooplankton.

### **History**

xenishes diverged first from the xenions during the first dozen of millions of years after the start of the Early era. they quickly found great success as some of the first active swimming predators, contributing in pushing away the xenions from the lower depth waters. eventually, descendants would develop, which would relegate the xenishes to a more basal role on the food chain, becoming quite rare in the process.
High Succugrass

The High Succugrass is a species of land benoisial very widespread across the river systems of Holea. adapted to their hot, but wet enough climate, they live in a strict symbiosis with the crawling mycelium, which helps the plant break down some of it's vital nutrients.

millions of years after the first ground colonizers from the sea, a plant capable of permanently living offshore has evolved: descending from lucky ground lettucegrasses that managed to slowly, but steadily affirm their presence on the beaches, the high succugrass is a heavily adapted, new kind of plant that arose in the shores of the eastern continent's waters. the main adaptation that it's ancestors undertook to create this revolutionary species was by developing extremely light spores, capable of being transported by the wind and able to spread further from the shores. another adaptation, as a solution to gain moisture in ever-increasingly drier growthplaces, was starting a collaboration with the strangest of it's consumers. from it's roots, growing from the nucleus to the underground, now also lie the main waste systems, from which the crawling mycelium, a descendant of the sleeping moss, gains susteinance. aside from these innovations that have already granted it's spread all across the western coasts of the eastern continent, the succugrass sports a relatively tall "trunk", derived from both waste minerals and a prolongation of the nucleus, protects the leaves from consumers and serve as a base for roots and relative mycelium. leaves have become shorter, but not harder: rather, they have lost most of the minerals in them to allow them to retain water in biomes where it may be necessary.
Weeder Sgrab

Weeder Sgrabs are halluciscutans that adapted to graze on water benoisilas and other algaes. found mainly on the middle and northern seas, they can grow to astounding sizes for a scutocephalan.

even the voracious tunnelers from the neighbouring pillar gardens have left one descendant into the masses of lettuces in the praires. these stocky, bigger descendants had to initially find a way to maintain stability and not sink into the sands near them: for this, tiny barbs started to grow at the end of their stilts as a small patch to traverse these impervious biomes. but as they finally adapted to the praires, these had little use among the dense foliage and the mineral substrate of the benois lettuces. the weeder sgrabs spend most of their time eating the leaves they are surrounded by. as the main herbivores of the praires, they may occasionally affront the predators living there. but with the venom and mimetization that protected their far ancestors gone by long, they can only rely on their spikes and the hard shell to defend themselves. while that's usually enough for the adults, undeveloped juveniles can easily be eaten by creatures like the billorm, and can only find protection by hiding among the weeds and, perphaps, sheer luck.
Hammer Nettle

Hammer Nettles are giant descendants of the rock nettle. thought their lifestyle and biology doesn't change much from their ancestors, they grow to much bigger sizes, especially concerning the net-mouth.

another strategy taken by rock nettles was gigantism. the hammer nettle may start out small, barely distinguishable from their ancestors at an early age, but with time due, it will grow to massive proportions. while the body is half-buried under the sand for protection, the net extends for almost a square metre, dense with long capillary fans to keep predators at bay. while it can't retract in itself anymore due to the sheer size, the fan can still be closed in particularly dire situations, such as storms or particularly pushy critters. despite their size, hammer nettles coexist easily with each other, allowing an easy dispersal of reproductive cells.
Septon Sgrab

Septon Sgrabs are the biggest Halluciscutans, living off in the sand flats. they have developed a taste for bud lettuces, which they also rely on for protection.

despite their recent extinction, stilt sgrabs were on paper resilient creatures, capable of defending themselves with their hardy shell and spikes. their major flaw, thought, was their size, exacerbated due to their poor coral-based diet. on a few remote locations, between the reefs and the flats, a few transitional individuals of stilt sgrabs went all in for a juicy and more rewarding food: the bud lettuces that were spreading anywhere during the time. the foliage density of the bud lettuce also offered a refuge from the flats predators, permitting this species to slowly but steadily grow in size and potential. powerful, armored like a tank and with a size rivaling even trumplers, this species finds itself at home where many animals would prefer not to be. a weird developement, that also gives it's name, is a seventh stilt at the tail end, serving as a stabilizer and derived from what should have been a new shell segment, like the one developed from it's venomous reef-dwelling cousin. the eggs are layed in safety around the rock crevices littered cross the flats, often covered in the same plants they found so tasty, and they should be grateful to for their very existence.
Marsh Polyp

Marsh Polyps are primitive amphibious descendants of pot of anemones, evolved after the Chodician-Orchidian mass extinction.

Marsh Polyp: some of the last surviving pots of anemone found themselves in a rather favourable environement: a low, stagnant, but not unfavourably saline marsh environement, in between the lakes and the coast of the eastern side of panspermia. here, a new species has evolved: despite heavily resembling it's ancestor, the marsh polyp is adapted to land life, and only needs to have available water sources to survive. however, it may not be as lucky as real plants: as it cannot absorb water in another way than direct contact, it is bound to amphibious and shallow environements like the marshes, but also the nearby lake. the cilias have developed a performant collagen, useful to anchor itself in the ever-changing geology of the environement. alongside that, the jointer has become long and tall, both being able to spread eggs to further distances and connect to even more plants. while there is a long way to full land colonization, it's not impossible for this species to one day manage to colonize the new frontier too.
Feathered Skub

Feathered Skubs are sessile descendants of the fan sgrab. diverging extremely from their ancestors, they have taken a niche similiar to retiarians by filter feeding.

Feathered Skub: meanwhile, some fan sgrabs manage to bring their niche to the extreme, devolving into completely shelled filter feeders. while looking nothing like their ancestors, eerily appearing as devolved version of them, teh feathered skubs are actually very efficient in terms of energy, and can dedicate all of their time feeding without having to worry about anything else but mating and predators. to the latter, a heavily spiked, unpenetrable armour does the job agains most of them, while mating seasons for these almost-sessile organisms occurs often, and is rich in offsprings. during their larval stages, the skubs resemble any other scutocephalian, but before maturing, they will have to find a surface to stick at for the rest of their life, which can be as simple as rocks or corals to even growing over big animal's skin. in adulthood, the only moving part of the skub are the fans, which can be retracted, and 8very slowly) their foot, in order to be able to change position overtime.
Stilt Sgrab

Stilt Sgrabs were weird, stilt-walking descendants of Pesky Sgrabs that lived on the edge of the fan reefs biome. they went extinct due to overpredation and natural population scarcity.

an extremely weird descendant of the pesky sgrabs, these critters started roaming the flats around the fan reefs even before the coming of the pillar lettuce. having totally engulfed it's body in the shield, 3 pairs of weird protrusions now grow on the sides, allowing movement with the aid of specialized muscles. the beak is now relocated in front of the first shieldplate to easen feeding; speaking of which, it has become even stronger to allow the creature to feed off hard shells, such as the very common pinpricks on the reefs. a pair of spikes grow along the plates, serving both as defensive aid and as sexually attractive traits. wandering costantly between two very diverse biomes, it may still face a lot of enemies, so the stilt sgrab developed a few tactics for defense, one of which being half-curling up to result as a spikier appetizer to predators. even then, it has always been a rare creature, preferring to find protection in the intricate reef corals, and the arrival of the raptworm is not doing any good to it.
Sototh

Sotoths were amphibious thoracephalians that lived in the western marshes. while slow and primitive, they were the prime predator of the environement of the time, before being killed off by the ice ages.

Sototh: during this era, the new marshes have taken back the appearance of chodician ones, minus the weird swamp bowls. becoming a refuge for shallow water species from both predators and uncommestible scrubs, it was a matter of time before one thoracephalian would adapt to this promising biome. the sototh, descended from uwebam stocks that colonized the western coasts, are slow ambush hunters that prey on the nectonians, scutocephalians and platemnites that inhabit these shallow waters. a sensible grid of barbs can detect the slightest movement even metres away, useful among these low-visibility waters. teh sototh can endiggen itself in awaiting of the prey's passage, before sucking them in with their wide mouth. their shooting antennaes, useless in this environement, have been repurposed as an elaborate communication organ, with which the sotoths interact between each other by exchanging certain fluids. the wide fins of their ancestors have proven extremely useful in navigating these muddy plains, and the underside has even developed microscopic barbs that can both ais in anchoring itself to the mud as well as helping slide throught it. if the sototh is left dry in it's puddle it can easily travel to reach another one, as it can even hold it's breath for up to a dozen of hours, making it pretty adapted for an amphibious lifestyle.
Wayfarer Rola

Wayfarer Rolas are a species of pelagic xenicthyan descended from the sunlight rola. they are heavy and well armored, with a hardened skin surrounding the mouth.

Wayfarer Rola: other species of sunlight rola went for the open oceans, adapting to the only plants they could feed off. the wayfarer rola is yet another moloid xenicthyan adapted to filter feeding, a recurring adaptation for the group going as far as it's own birth, but not any less remarkable. it can reach enormous sizes, which, along with it's undershell and the evolution of a hard-skin band that covers all of the head, renders it virtually unpenetrable to predators. alongside that, it can reach dazzling speeds when needed, but only does so rarely. the wayfarer rolas swim often in shoals, which are mainly composed by related family members.
Carrys

Carryses are Bicephalians descended from the meduse, among the first creatures to colonize the pillar forests. they are rather quick and dexterous, but are often prey of even larger species.

meduses had a field day of evolutionary adaptation after the rise of pillar forests, and the relatively young age and expansiveness of the biome allowed them to radiate mostly uncompeted in potential new niches. the carrys is first of all better adapted at swimming rather than swinging along the pillars, not only due to the weird conformation of the pillars themselves, but also for the relative distance between each plant. this is done both by even larger and more developed fins and highly adapted hand-mouths, that "traded off" their grasping characteristic in favor of better water propulsion, as well as small fins at the end (derived from the "finger"-like appendages) and shorter lenght to aid in manouverability. to defend itself from predators, but also to maintain the whole organism in shape, the body developed a soft shell under the skin, similiar to a cuttlefish's bone. newly developed eyes on the front of the body aid at sighting dangers and obstacles, and the lower appendages reinforced themselves to make claws with which it scrapes off and snatches it's preys. feeling much safer in the new environement, it has ditched it's ancestors' nocturnal habits for an actively hunting lifestyle. sadly the sticky sgrabs put an additional danger to the eggs themselves, which are now quicker to hatching and spread all over the plants to patch this fallacy in their reproductive strategy
Benois Shellyfish

Benois Shellyfishes are gigantic forms of the regular shellyfish. as they are able to obtain such great sizes only by feeding off large quantities of plankton,they are mostly found in cold waters and currents, which are rich of their food.

at the start of the Chodicene, the swift change of temperature of the planet, along with many earthquakes and the union of cold northern waters with existing currents, have arisen powerful currents bringing in various chemicals from the depths of the oceans. both northern and southern currents, colling oceans worldwide, meet on the Middle Sea, culminaning in a bloom-fest of plankton and algaes in shallow waters and allowing for a potential, incredible explosion in biodiversity. among the first creatures to evolve from this were the shellyfishes, living in close contact with the currents themselves. along with the increased quantity of planktons, the general lack of predators in their biome gave rise to a brand-new gigantic descendant. reaching astounding lenght sizes, the Benois Shellyfish is among the largest living creatures of the planet, found over the deeper, colder internal areas of the Sea. costantly feeding off plankton, their shell and sheer size makes them virtually unviolable by predators, as well do their extremely long stinging tentacles. despite that, they easily get eaten during their earliest years, both as planktonic larvaes and as young adults. as such, they are a rare sight, but one surely to behold.
Toxin Rola

Toxin Rolas are a species of xenicthyan living in the fan reefs. other than their toxicity, they are also notable for their unique carnivorous tendencies among their clade, as well as their bright colouration.

some rorolas which frequented the fan reefs have developed a new method to stay safe against the many predators there. while there are very few plants growing here, they adapted on sustaining themselves off plankton, particularly rich in this time period, but also integrated their diet with hard-shelled scutocephalans. one of their preys is the poisonous pinker sgrab, which has just started to repopulate it's lost range, and to which it's spikes sort no effect to the rolas. by eating the sgrabs, the new reef species also retained it's poison in it's very meat, making it a rather easy, but deadly meal for predators. brightly coloured, the toxin rolas have left the sociality of it's ancestors to favour territoriality, as their most important food sources don't come for everyone. aside from all this, they still phisically resemble the old rorolas.
Titan Xenish

Titan Xenish were giant, predatorial descendants of the xenish, once covering the role of macropredator of Nispe's seas. overcompetition and lack of defenses brought them to extinction by the hands of their own descendants, the novish.

### **Anatomy**

as their name suggests, titan xenishes were much bigger compared to their ancestors, possibly reaching over a metre in length. despite that, their skin was still the same frail, gelatinous one. supporting radial system, thought, further reinforced, resembling even more an actual skeletal system. the tail also enlarged to create more power for movement, alongside a new dorsal fin. simple eyes also developed to avoid obstacles, not recognizable by their regular sensory organs. the eaters assumed a flat, elongated form, while the beakeds resembled more their ancestors. these were now sustained also nutritionally by their mate, in a weird food exchange that occured during mating. in the meantime, these could resist without food for a few months.

### **Biology**

titan xenishes roamed for nispe's oceans, always in search of preys. beakeds usually followed along their mates, more for protection than anything else. aside from that, eaters weren't much different behaviourally from their ancestors.

#### **Diet**

these predators fed off anything they could fit in their mouth, ranging from small shoals of finworms to smaller members of their same species. for the first time, beakeds too could also feed themselves, thought by a protein substance produced by their mate during reproduction, which could be consumed by the beaked's metabolysm even without an actual feeding apparatus.

#### **Reproduction**

reproduction per se was similiar to their ancestors, including the egg dispersal and growth. however, it now occured monthly thanks to the heightened resilience of the beakeds.

### **History**

titan xenishes appeared during the late period of the Early era, concurrently with the rise of the Pillar Forests. they found great success in this new biome, but were eventually outcompeted and hunted off by their descendant, the Novish, which was even more well adapted for the new developments of Nispe's biosphere.
Wirm

Wirms were offshoots of the amphisbena's family which had evolved back to a simpler form of bilateral symmetry. Each of the mouths had adapted to fulfill a different scope; one for eating, one for expleting. They went extinct sometime during the rise of the Knuckers, being outcompeted and hunted to extinction by them.

### **Anatomy**

Wirms were vastly different from their ancestors: while one mouth further specialized for hunting, the other coveted a much lesser role, being the main organ for digging as well as excretion. this change in the bodyplan also centralized the main body, along with the organs, and the fins moved on it's sides to aid with movement. thanks to these adaptations, it could grow up to twice the size of an amphisbena.

### **Biology**

wirms didn't live much dissimilarly from their ancestors, but they were better at digging and crawling on the sea floor. they were however better adapted at their niche than their ancestors, and probably have contributed to it's decline for this reason.

#### **Diet**

their diet was roughly the same as amphisbenas, which consisted of any small-sized creature near it's hideout sucked in with their powerful mouth.

#### **Reproduction**

while the wirm's reproductive method remained the same, they were greatly aided by both the fins and the more conventional body plan, but despite this, mating still remained a dangerous activity. the organs were still retained on the respective mouths.

### **History**

Wirms evolved during the earliest periods of the Early era from amphisbenas, which they initially competed with. despite that, the two species still coexisted. it's possible that the same causes of it's ancestor's downfall might have hit the wirm's population too, altought with a lessened impact. it is unclear why the wirm even went extinct, but it's possible the evolution of the knucker (a predator well adapted at hunting digging preys), as well as outside factors might have caused the demise of the species.
Crawling Mycelium

Crawling Mycelium is a chromistid living mostly underground, sometimes attached to benoisial's roots. it keeps a vital role to them, in a symbiotic relationship in which they contribute breaking down and passing undispensable nutrients to them.

from it's roots, growing from the nucleus to the underground, now also lie the main waste systems, from which the crawling mycelium, a descendant of the sleeping moss, gains susteinance. it's extremely low energetic requirement, compared to the host plant, give no problems to it when it comes to trading nutrients with the succugrass, especially water; by spreading deeper in the ground with it's own growth protrusions, it can absorb the water deeper than the succugrass' roots could, and will transfer the remaining quantities to it (which is a great deal of water for the plant, since the mycelium's low intake). growing also on the "trunk" of the plant, they reproduce independently to the succugrasses, spreading over the virgin grounds around them: as such, the succugrass' spores have to fall on terrain where mycelium is already present in order to survive and grow.
Rostorm

Rostorms are small, carnivorous rostrilians and one of the first genus of the keramouths ever evolved. while they tend to live next to the shorezones, they can often be found hunting in the canopies.

the original member of the group is the Rostorm, a typical-looking land chordate that has developed a taste not only for the smaller river grubs, but also for it's "own" kind. aside from it's sharp and intimidating rostrum, that has already enveloped it's half of the beak, the main improvements are all on behalf of locomotion; the proto-legs have now developed a primitive foot, complete with tiny fingers, while the limb has further strengthenend to carry over the whole animal, as well as the development of a new pouch in which to keep in the otherwise hampering feelers. thanks to sheer evolutionary pressure by the highly energetic lifestyle of a carnivore, even the rostorms have archieved full-on air breathing, even if reproduction and hydration still tie the species to an amphibious lifestyle. as bipedalism in these early stages is still impossible for such animals, thought, the rostorm can only take advantage of it's improvements by waddling faster than it's preys, hampered by a short and almost vestigial fin-tail. on another hand, a poor eyesight and a primitive, and rather stupid, brain have made of this creature a preferably lonesome hunter, not hesitating to assault other members of it's species near him. while this territorialism helped to keep in check the rostorm's population, and somewhat preserve it's prey's, it still had a huge impact on the land ecosystems, not only by damaging the population of the docile, and in some cases weaker, herbivorous rostrilians and hung grubs, but also pushed away the only other predator of these biomes, the carcoh, to only the most primitive beach regions, which the rostorm disdains.
Pillar Lettuce

Pillar Lettuces are descendants of the digging lettuces which have evolved their formation as a full-fledged base to grow their leaves on. they are very widespread, being found under many depth ranges, even down to 300 m.i.d.

### **Anatomy**

pillar lettuce's main characteristic consists on the enormous pillar-like structure they grow on, which can allow them to remain extremely stable under the sand as well as letting them grow on even deeper levels. despite this, the plants take a very long time to grow, (with a few couple of metres taking half a century) making them pretty susceptible to natural disasters and epidemics. the plant itself, starting from the subterranean roots, grow the leaves across patterns of specialized vines attached to the pillar. the leaves are dense and big, capable of sustaining diets of large animals like dinworms.

### **Biology**

the pillar lettuces are a very varied and particular species of digging lettuces. various subspecies have developed depending on the depth they hail from, down to almost 300 metres but still usually close to shallower waters. they form the highly bio-rich pillar forests on depths lower than 30 metres, where the shore waters, and the low-tide gardens boundaries end; this biome consists of many high-depths pillars growing in colonies, often even tigthly between each other, creating massive "metropolies" of plants. some species develop colonies of algal microorganism on their pillars, especially those which, at lower depths, can easily grow out of water, hosting their own very particular microbiome along with common pillar lettuce-eaters the sticky sgrabs.

#### **Reproduction**

they reproduce like other members of their clade by spore dispersal. after fertilization, the spores will fall off on the sand and slowly start growing their own pillar. in the time they may take to grow their pillar's base, the roots will quickly hatch and hatch on the sea floor.

### **History**

at the boundary between the early and middle Early era, the pillar lettuces first arose from low-tide gardens around 31 mya. one of the major cornerstone species of the interchange, pillar lettuces slowly but steadily spread over the seas of Nispe, eventually creating the brand new pillar forests biome. so far, the species has been successful, hosting between their pillars a wide array of creatures, some strictly dependant on it like sticky sgrabs, carrys and dinworms.
Coastal Rola

Coastal Rolas are light, adaptable members of the rorolas. their thin and flexible fins allow for greater mobility than that of their ancestors.

Coastal Rola: as the foul moss eventually reaches the northern seas, the otherwise barren coasts are filled with a brand new food source, which attracted the close-by reed rolas. a new species therefore adapts to live among these coasts: the coastal rola, with agile fins and a social mind. it's reduction in size prompted a lightening of the body too, with flexible finbones and a thin, semitransparent fin. able to snuck in the various crevuces of it's environement, the coastal rola is also a very social creature. using pherormones, it can communicate easily within it's shoal, which can reach big numbers, and even get past the 100 members. obviously, many predators put in danger their lives, such as the local pterabishes, and the rolas have to be wary and watchful of any sudden, suspicious moves.
Razorfin Crab

Razorfin Crabs were a highly derived species of scutocephalians living uniquely on the middle sea. evolved from the copperhead crabs, they improved their efficiency by reducing the armor, developing new fins and even evolving a notochord for support. like many other species in the middle sea, they went extinct after the salinization event.

Razorfin Crab: as copperhead crabs spread out and confirm themselves as the dominant predators of the middle sea, they also evolve, improving their form even better. the razorfin crab is a true titan of the scutocephalans, almost as big as a small xenicthyan, and probably the biggest one can get in the oxygen-poor region of the middle sea. the main notable change of the razorfin is the reduction and softening of the shell on the body segments, leaving more space to the flesh and fins, which become even more flexible to allow almost flawless paddle-based swimming. to keep all of this in shape, a simple notochord has even begun to appear, giving sustain to the whole body. only the second segment remains somewhat protected to avoid unwanted danger and intimidate. the fearsome beak has elongate further, assuming a needle-like appearance and with it's arm becoming elongated and articulated. while the oil-based propulsion has been retained, it's barely even used and on the way to disappear. the razorfin hunts relentlessly among teh shallow waters of the sea, both small and big preys. for the latter, it likes to wait for their passage hidden in the sand at the sea floor, only to blast in and assault the preys in vital areas. teh newly evolved yauub are one of it's preferred preys.
Scraper Fan

Scraper Fans are massive colonies of filter-feeding retiarian fans, inhabiting the most plankton-rich regions of the seas of Nispe. thanks to their ancestor's quick, spongiform growths, these colonies can reach astounding sizes, up to the very surface of the sea.

along with the benois lettuce, another creature found the Middle Sea a very appealing place to colonize, but this time it was a slow colonial member of the fan reefs. with the increased quantity of food flowing over the seas, the labyrinth fans took a chance to reach the skies... sot of. their towering descendants can reach sizes comparable only to the extinct deep pillar lettuces, with enormous colonies counting billions of almost microscopic fans on one coral alone. the scraper fans are found around the same depht benois lettuces grow, so it's not rare to see their presence dot the underwater praires that cover the surrounding areas. sometimes, these corals can even reach the very surface of the sea, which will prompt them to grow large plateaus to account for the lack of vertical space. on this levels, it's not rare to also see microscopic algaes cover the coral's surface with a slight, greenish patin; but these do not form a symbiosis with the nettles, merely taking from them unused space to grow over. but maybe, over time, something may spark from their presence.
Tarasque

The Tarasque is a giant bicephalian derived from the idera. their big size and shell allow them to hunt even bigger species, but they have a quite limited distribution on the edges and flats of the fan reefs, as well as being very slow.

despite their obvious weakness and limitations, ideras have become succesful hunters in the reef's deepest recesses, and one species even permitted itself to attaing unbelievable sizes. the result is a voracious, raptworm-sized beast that awaits under it's weird, but functional and effective shell during the day. when night comes, the eating head will sneak out, quick and muscular, waiting for any prey decently sized enough to feed it to pass by. along with the whiskers and the powerful venom, to easen it's life the tarasque developed a chemical-based sensory organ, located on it's frills, similiarly to what the carpet needle did in long forgotten times. after a prey has been catched, the teeth will now suck off as much interiors as it can in the case it's too big to be swallowed whole by the mouth. very slow moving, it mates only on certain periods, crawling wherever it can to reach out another of it's species. after mating, the eggs are retained in a newly developed dedicated pouch on the inside of the second head, now reduced only to a mere anus-genital, where they will hatch safely after a certain amount of time. while not the best of the hunters, it is indeed the most secured and painful ones out there, but, like many others on these reefs, whether or not it will survive on the long run only time and evolution will tell.
Billorm

Billorms are archeochordates that adapted to a diet consisting of hard-shelled creatures, even including garlic trashies. evolved in the chodician, they are the only surviving archeochordate to this day.

### **Anatomy**

The main features of this animal are in the snout, with a large, wide bill characteristic of this species. encircling the bill is a crown made of hard tissue, which serves to protect the animal from eating (usually from any attack from it's preys). further behind, slit-like nostrils and beady eyes help the animal find it's food, partially spaced away to preserve these delicate organs. the body is typical of archeochordates, with it's wide pair of fins, a round shape and a small tail, reminiscent of the extinct raptworms they are distantly related to. billorms are fairly large compared to most other species, but still don't get past the metre and half in lenght.

### **Biology**

lonely, active hunters, billorms are found in a variety of biomes in the southern seas, but prefer low-depth waters. they go searhing for food all day round, being less active during daylight. despite this, they aren't patient predators: impulsive and, at times, even aggressive, they will try to kill anything they deem tasty enough, including scilliyas, with which they oftentimes fight against. while scilliyas can count on their blades to keep them at bay, smaller individuals are an easy meal for billorms. it's theorized that this species was, in fact, one of the cause of the scilliya's decline in the food chain.

#### **Diet**

their preys are varied, but exclusively consist of hard-shelled animals: alongside scutocephalans, nematocephalans and even garlic trashies (which they eat by scraping off their footholds) are their usuals.

#### **Reproduction**

as solitary animals, they don't mate in groups as their ancestors did, but they prefer forming couples during mating season. they reproduce by spreading: after fertilization, the parent couple separates, leaving the eggs to themselves. it will take up to 4 months for a fry to reach adulthood, but very few of them survive to make it.

### **History**

billorms evolved from the last keaworms of the pillar gardens, shortly after the B-Ch extinction. these primitive animals, the last notochordates, have since spread all over their range, but have not produced any descendant yet.
Brackish Lettuce

Brackish Lettuces were weird, isolated descendants of the spike lettuce that managed to grow in the Eastern Lake. they were a major factor in contributing to the lake's degradation, and were replaced by their own descendants just after a few million years.

### **Anatomy**

Brackish Lettuces had to deal with a costantly deteriorating habitat, and adapted in various ways in contrast. the roots became more dense and capillar to extract more from the waters, while the foliage diverged in two different types: some, closer to the surface, were smaller and wrinklier to reduce the need of food, while the other, still active photosynthezisers, became even more specialized for buoyancy, particularly to keep up the denser calcium growth in order to avoid sinking down as it became bigger. they were small and slow growers due to the low nutrient intake, even despite the danger provided by the calcium growth.

### **Biology**

they were found sparsely, but sometimes collected in small amassments, on the Eastern Lake's surface. due to the abscence of herbivores (or animals of any kind), the population was mostly unchecked save for their very growth.

#### **Reproduction**

altought having to deal with dense, algae-rich waters, the spores were hardy enough to serve well their function even on this degraded biome, changing little about their reproduction system. despite that, spore dispersals were rare events for these plants.

### **History**

the ancestor of this species, a colony of spike lettuces, was brought by a storm on the lake sometime during the early Early Era. brackish lettuces evolved as the lake's conditions slowly became worse, after thousands of unchecked growth of algaes and spike lettuces. for a few millions of years the deterioration remained costant, but it eventually reached the point even this species couldn't handle it anymore. eventually, it got completely replaced by their descendants, the deadman lettuces, which slowly evolved to be even more adapted to borderline unlivable water conditions.
Peeking Crab

Peeking Crabs are scutocephalans that adapted to feed primarily on scraper fans. this species is notable for it's convergent evolution to other "suction cup" scutocephalans, such as sticky sgrabs and hung grubs.

despite all the new Middle Sea has to offer, many old inhabitants of the barren bottoms that were present before found themselves were left displaced by the rising praires biome. some found refuge on deeper waters, some migrated to less "active" seas, some simply went extinct locally. but some, like the shallow crabs, were adaptable enough to embrace the new state of their biome. peeking crabs descend from the most ancient of the scutocephalans currently alive, and have found their way over the towering corals that grow among the praires. with a hard beak similiar to stilt sgrabs on the underside, and the compact body and sticky foot of the sticky sgrabs, they are a prime example of convergent evolution, but are still not to underestimate in their ability to adapt on the fly. by eating anything growing over the scraper fans, including the coral themselves, they could be a serious danger to the well-being of these, if it wasn't for the presence of predators such as bottorms and scilliyas still living among the praires putting the population at check. obviously, they can't just all remain on one scraper alone, so to further spread their range they leave their eggs to the currents, hopefully finding another coral to stick to in their path.
Foul Moss

Foul Moss is an extremely adaptable, widespread and invasive marine chromistid species. able to grow on many surfaces, it has taken over as one of the major plant forms on most of the middle sea and nearby.

originating from the western continent of Panspermia, this descendant of the deep moss has taken it's route back to the sea, where it's been growing at an unstoppable force ever since it has appeared. with a costant sourcing of water and nutrients, it has left behind the frenzy biology and small sizes, and now forms thick , ever-spreading mats over it's growthplace, often sporting extrusions as long as the lettuces themselves. but what really makes it stand out is it's adaptability on growing over every hard surface of the bottom, be it corals, pillars, calcium substrates or just rocks. as such, it has spread in almost every biome, taking the local lifeforms by a jolt. while some species suffered greatly, others were at least relieved by their own local herbivores, consuming relentlessly the plants as a whole. this also includes the spore batches, the weakest part of the plant: as those can be quickly eaten by their consumers, the mosses have started an arms race towards quicker, better and more chanceful enhancements at their reproductive system. even then, this fact may be the only characteristic of the moss that truly keeps it's population at bay.
Platemnita

Platemnites are one of the four major clades of the order Bilatera. they are the simplest of the order, as they are mainly composed of flat, worm-like species, but are also the least diffuse. However, despite their simplified shape, they still developed cephalization, and are all provided of a single, syringe-like tooth which they suck off their preys with. Platemnites are also sexually differentiated, but a few of the most recent species are capable of replication by split.

Once a wider and richer clade, nowadays platemnites only consist of handfuls of oftentimes parasitical species, and are among the simplest motile animals on Nispe.

### **History**

Platemnites are the oldest diverging group of bilateran (side from bicephalians) to evolve on Nispe, and it's possible that scutocephalans are a close relative, possibly even descendants of the earliest forms. all platemnites posses a blue, copper-based blood, rich of the substance that also aids on the formation of their tooth. despite their simplicity, swimming platemnitans were among the first active predators of nispe's oceans, and therefore highly contributed to the evolution of life on the planet. despite this, the clade, while widespread, could not survive the aftermath of the B-Ch extinction, leaving the original forms the only one left in a much more evolved world. hematophagic species date back to the earlier Chodician, and went on to develop into fully parasitic species on the Orchidian, some of which even present on land.

### **Groups**

Only two groups of Platemnites exist: the main, and only surviving one, the **Archaeoplatemnites**, all possess a very basic elongated shape, and make use of the tooth to suck off their prey's interiors while sticking to it as much as they can. while parasitical forms possess notable differences, they still get grouped into the group as a whole due to their fundamentally similiar anatomy and behaviour. the main differences are the presence of an electrorecepting organ in front of the head, and the lack of an acidic chamber to dissolve the preys with, useful for the more archaic species that still feed off sessile, hard-shelled preys. the **Swimming Platemnites**, instead, were much more active than their relatives, but still worm-like in shape. they moved around with wave fins, which usually limited their range to the sea floor, aside from few species adapted to open seas possessing wider fins. alongside that, their main sensory organ was chemoreceptive, allowing them to "scent" out their preys with great facility, but was otherwise inefficient to avoid obstacles with. while they were arguably underperforming compared to more adaptable clades like archaechordates and caudalians, it is unclear why they went completely extinct after the Benician.