Çɔli kɐkɐlkɑ

The çɔli kɐkɐlkɑ is an aquatic grass genus which grows in lowland riverine systems, as well as the central lake. It is the only plant genus which occurs in two types of ecosystem. It has two primary inhabitants, the kɐnifo wotɪkɐl and the hɑsɑn ihɐθɪz, which are the only two animal genera which occur in two types of ecosystem.

## Biology

### Descriptions:

#### çɔli kɐkɐlkɑ (Waterwheat/Riverwheat/Lakewheat)

The çɔli kɐkɐlkɑ is an aquatic grass species. The leaves are shades of pink through to blue on the inside of the blade, and metallic on the outside, though the colour varies between species. While being strictly aquatic, they cannot grow in water more than about 1612 ðɛmɪ deep, and grow close to the shore of lowland river systems, as well as the central lake.

The root system is dense and consists of a tangle of outwardly spreading roots, which often join with the roots of other individual plants. Each plant consists of several shoots, with long blades growing close to the base, and a single stem growing from the centre of the leaves. The leaves and the stem continue to grow well past the surface of the water, ranging between 6 and 1612 ðɛmɪ above the surface. The stem produces a cone at its tip, with each pocket producing a single discrete flower. The flowers are small, with three typically white petals, fused into a narrow corolla. The floral ovary is inferior and larger than the flower, fuzed through the pedicle to the deepest part of the cone pocket.

The flower is usually mostly hidden inside the pocket, visible primarily from above. The inside edges of the pocket are coloured white.

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#### kɐnifo wotɪkɐl (Frog-Swallow)

The kɐnifo wotɪkɐl is a small amphibian, with adults typically around half a ðɛmɪ in length. The river forms vary widely in colour and form, but the caudal spike is typically around half the length of the body (~ one-sixths of a ðɛmɪ). In the lake form, it is the same length as the body (~ one-third of a ðɛmɪ). The cranial, dorsal, and jaw fins are also longer in the lake form.

The head is rounded, with three whiskers arranged in a circle around the tip of the snoot. The eyes are large and possess both horizontally closing outer eyelids, but a nictitating membrane as well. The lake form has a rounder head, and longer and thinner whiskers (but still the same number and position). The fins and body scales are iridescent silver, and the eyes are pink.

The small eggs are mostly transparent, with only a thin membrane. The first larval instar lacks legs and consists only of a round little body (with eyes, whiskers, nostrils, and a mouth), a caudal fin, and two tiny fins near the front that eventually transform into the jaw fins. The dorsal and cranial fin grow in next, joined together at first. The forelegs develop under the skin below the head before popping out, usually around the same time that the cranial and dorsal fins split. The subadult form, with all of the parts formed as the adult, typically starts out at around one-sixth of a ðɛmɪ in total length, but only mature at 2/3rds of total length.

The larval form is typically in bright shades of yellow, green, and aqua. The colour changes quickly once it reaches the sub-adult stage, in which it closely resembles the adult. The adult colour is usually pink though to blue, with metallic fins. These colours are close to the colours on the top and bottom of the leaves of the çɔli kɐkɐlkɑ plant.

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#### hɑsɑn ihɐθɪz (Puff-Ball Honeyeater)

The hɑsɑn ihɐθɪz is a tiny bird species that live around lowland riverine systems and the central lake. The adult form reaches a maximum size of around 0.1-0.312 ðɛmɪ in all dimensions depending on the species. The body is small, rounded, and is covered in waterproof fluff that results in a pom-pom appearance, with only the beak (long and thin), the eyes (large and round), and wings (two pairs) visible. The honeyeater does possess a single pair of front legs, which are used primarily when depositing eggs. The adult form has a long ovipositor, which it uses to lay eggs just under the surface of plants around the water. The wing shape varies among species, but are rarely longer than the (furless) body and usually are wider closer to the tip than the base. They are always at least translucent, in a range of colours, and veined.

The larvae are tiny, barely visible to the naked eye at first, essentially microscopic for the first few instars. The colour changes as they grow, usually starting as a dark grey or dull park purple, and brightening as they grow. The larvae consist of a rounded body, with a discrete head and two massive eyes. They move through bodily undulation with a horizontal caudal fin. Only the last instar possesses forelimbs, which it uses to crawl out of the water and find a place high above the water to pupate for a few days.

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### Interactions:

Adult kɐnifo wotɪkɐl build nests in the sediment in tiny clearings in the çɔli kɐkɐlkɑ. The nests consist of circular patterns, with a small hollow in the centre where the eggs are deposited. Eggs are laid continuously over the year, with a single egg being produced at least every few days, but usually, 3-6 being laid every day. The parent cleans the eggs and protects them. As the eggs hatch, the larvae are chased out of the clearing by the parent into the surrounding kɐkɐlkɑ stems.

The wotɪkɐl ensure that the kɐkɐlkɑ does not become too packed together, as their razor-sharp dental plates allow them to clear the stems away to make a new clearing to use as a nest, and maintain a clearing once it is established. The adults prefer to make a new clearing as opposed to contesting one with an established owner or taking a clearing from a predated adult. In fact, adults often abandon clearings that have been in use for a few months. This cycling allows for the kɐkɐlkɑ seeds to grow within the abandoned clearings.

Throughout their life, wotɪkɐl are opportunistic omnivores. The larval form feeds primarily on detritus, but also picks at the skin of any animal that wanders close enough. This cleaning service is well appreciated by local animals and they tend not to predate wotɪkɐl larva - even if they do predate on the adult form. The subadult form becomes more of an active hunter, consuming small animal larvae whole, and occasionally taking bites out of the flesh and fins of passing larger fish. It is still primarily a detritivore. The adult form is capable of leaving the water, climbing up the stems of the kɐkɐlkɑ to warm up in the sun, and quickly dropping back into the water when a predator is seen.

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The hɑsɑn ihɐθɪz larvae emerge when the plant material in which they were laid becomes submerged. The eggs can remain in stasis for several years if required. The larvae are primarily detritivores, but also eat soft plant matter. As the adults are small, difficult to catch, and mostly fluff, they are not regularly predated upon. The larvae are, however, a primary food source for many small aquatic animals, including kɐnifo wotɪkɐl. When they emerge, the body size of the adult is actually smaller than the last instar phase, but the adult quickly grows to their maximum size over only a week, after which they start to lay eggs in groups of ten12 or so every 712 lɑjɪɾɪ.

Their adult life is usually only 3012 days in totality, almost all of which is spent airborne. Their small size and minute weight allows for the hɑsɑn ihɐθɪz to spend the majority of the time simply floating, with the wings used primarily for short bursts of speed.

The diet of the adult form is as an exclusive nectarivore, primarily feeding on kɐkɐlkɑ flowers, though they also feed on a variety of flowers that grow around the lowland rivers and central lake.

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The flowers of the kɐkɐlkɑ mature in a staggered manner, with the flowers lower on the cone maturing first. Once a flower has been drained of nectar, the pocket closes. After all the pockets have closed the cone begins to dry up, with an individual seed maturing in each pocket. Once the seeds have matured and the cone is fully dry, it is possible to trigger the opening of all the pockets through a large enough impact. A stem waving in the wind and smacking into another is often enough, or a large enough bird knocking it in flight.

The θɛʃɾəɾi harvest the seeds to make flour, and the dry cones to make pottery, and usually do so by smacking a dry cone with a stick over a boat, before cutting it off the stem. In the process some seeds fall into the water, thus maintaining the laws around harvest. The seeds are large and almost perfect spheres, usually around 0.1612 ðɛmɪ in radius.