Sarcodiscus

## Sarcodiscus acrodontus

Latest Mutations: Nostrils = 3, Sexes = 2, Iguana's Teeth = 6

Sarcodiscus looks a bit like an Earth-lamprey from the front, with a oral disc wider than the rest of the body. This is ringed with many sharp, leafed-shaped teeth, bizarrely like an iguanas. The oral disc helps Sarcodiscus to grip onto a recently dead animal and rasp flesh off them without the use of a jaw, which it does not have. However, there are no animals regularly large enough to sustain parasitism for this animal and it is no longer a filter-feeder, so it lives off of corpses when it can get them. Otherwise the oral disc and teeth are actually used for prising off algal films from rock, but for this the teeth are a bit of an overkill. In addition, it can also absorb nutrients from corpses through its skin. Compared to their relatives, they only produce about half the amount of young with each spawning.

Status: LC

Habitat: Tropical Very Humid Plains, Tropical Monsoon Plains, Tropical Winter Semi-Arid Plains, Tropical Arid Plains, Subtropical Very Humid Plains, Subtropical Monsoon Plains, Subtropical Winter Semi-Arid Plains, Subtropical Arid Plains, Subtropical Very Arid Plains, Subpolar Warm Oceanic Summer Semi-Arid Plains

Niche: Herbivore, Scavenger

Size: 7cm (length)

Nutritional Worth: (8.3 x 7 =) 58NP

Food / Oxygen Requirement: 26NP / 46NP

Abilities: Permeable Skin. Nutrient Absorbent.

Perception: Blurry vision with no depth perception on either side, can use electroreception and chemoreception up to ten metres away.

Intelligence / Behaviour: Processes information and responds based on fixed behaviours. It knows to eat and avoid being harmed.

External Features: It has a tapering body with blue pigmentation and a paddle-like caudal fin fused with the long dorsal fin. It also has triangular pectoral ray-fins. The thin skin layer over the body has a line line of electroreceptors along the flank. Mechanisms in the skin and gills can transfer nutrients directly into the body. At the front of the head is an oral disc covered in rings of sharp, leaf-shaped teeth as well as
two sideways facing cup eyes and chemoreceptors.

Internal Features: There are three gill slits each side of the head. The muscles on each side are attached between the body wall and cartilage vertebrae. The gastrointestinal tract from the mouth has a stomach with carnivorous digestive juices followed by intestines with herbivorous microfauna, leading to the anus. The brain encased in the head connects to a ring around the mouth. The brain connects to two nerve cords which branch into network of nerves. There is an oil-filled swim bladder in the middle. The hemacoel cavity, an open circulatory system, has red blood containing haemoglobin. It hosts both male and female gonads. Protonephridia, connected to hemacoel, expels waste through pores.

Locomotion Type: Anguilliform. Some Buoyancy Control (Must Keep Swimming To Maintain Depth).

Reproduction: Sexual, Ovuliparity (External Fertilisation). 500 eggs. Hermaphroditism

Castes/Phases: None.

Physical Stats: Speed = 0.6, Stamina = 1, Agility = 1, Stability = 1, Attack = 1.5, Defence = 0.5 (cartilage over nerve cords and brain), Strength = 2, Support = 1.5, Inflexibility = 1, UV Resistance = 1 Weak, Filtration = 0.

Systemic Stats: Osmoregulation = 1 (Freshwater), Respiration = 2 (cutaneous respiration, ram ventilation), Digestion = 2.5 (plants), Circulation = 1, Excretion = 1, Immune System = 1 (physical barrier), Coordination = 1, Reflexes = 1.

External Features: Tapering body with blue pigmentation (3NP, +Weak Resistance) with with long dorsal fin (2NP, +1 Stability, -0.2 Speed) and triangular pectoral ray-fins (5NP, +1 Agility, -0.2 Speed). Thin skin layer (3NP, +1 Immune System, +1 Respiration, +Permeable Skin), line of electroreceptors on flank (2NP, +1 Electroreception). At the front of the head is an oral disc (1NP, +1 Filtration) covered in rings of sharp, leaf-shaped teeth(2NP, +1.5 Attack, -1 Filtration) as well as two sideways facing cup eyes (4NP, +Directional Light Sensing) and chemoreceptors (1NP, +1 Chemoreception).

Internal Features: It has nutrient-uptaking cells (3NP, +0.5 Digestion, +Nutrient Absorbent) on the outside. Three gill slits each side of head (8NP, +1 Respiration). Muscles on each side, attached to body wall (10NP, +1 Speed, +1 Strength, +0.5 Support) and cartilage vertebrae (6NP, +1 Support, +1 Strength, +1 Inflexibility, +0.5 Defence). Gastrointestinal tract from mouth has stomach with digestive juices (4NP, +1 Digestion) followed by intestines containing herbivorous microfauna (4NP, +1 Digestion) leading to exit. Brain (6NP, +1 Coordination) encased in head connects to two nerve cords which branch into network of nerves (8NP, +1 Reflexes). Oil-filled swim bladder (4NP, +Some Buoyancy Control) in middle. Male and female gonads (6NP, +Sexual Reproduction, +Hermaphroditism). The hemacoel cavity, open circulatory system (+1 Stamina, +1 Circulation) has red blood containing hemoglobin. Protonephridia (4NP, +1 Excretion, +1 Osmoregulation), connected to hemacoel, expels waste through pores.

Temporal Range: R.156 - Present (Nocturnis Stage of the Oliverian)

Distribution: Freshwater in Olympia

Predecessor: Icthyotelus sorberus

Classification: Charitomenchelusinae (sf), Charitomenchelusidae (f), Eoicthyes (o), Chordata (sc), Cephalozoa (p)

Lifespan: Lifespan: 1 - 2 years

Discoverer: BlackInk