Oliganidae

Two Pink-Striped Oligans swimming near a somewhat-shallow seafloor

**Oliganidae**, commonly known as **Oligans**, are a family under Parvenatora and are distinguished by their body shape, which includes a long, ovaloid body with a mouth at the front and a varying amount of tentacles in the back, the middle of which is always longest and is used for ejecting extaca. They are named after the Latin word for squid, lolligo, and the singular is Oligan.

## Anatomy

The anatomy of all Oligans includes three main body parts: the head, the torso, and the tentacles. The head is the part that contains the Oligan's mouth, brain, heart, and gemani (singular geminas, derived from Greek words gematos and pnevmonas, meaning full and lung respectively). Gemani are organs that perform the same function as lungs or gills, filtering water absorbed through microscopic pores in the skin out, and absorbing air. They do so through selective diffusion, letting water out and in, and letting oxygen in without letting it out. Rather than their gemani being hollow like lungs on Earth, they are solid all the way through, and keep in air using their sponge-like absorbance. To keep the Oligan from floating up because of this, they have four gemani, organized in a circular pattern in the Oligan. Only two of the four gemani will keep in air at a time, while the other two absorb water. Because of this, Oligans, like most other Parvenatores, are considered to be radially symmetrical. The brain of the Oligan is relatively simple, as it allows for the function of all of the body parts, but Oligans do not have complex cognitive function. Oligans' hearts are also simple, having no special abilities from most other "animals".

The torso contains only one special organ, and three main other things: fat to keep the body warm, primitive veins to allow the transfer of blood throughout the Oligan, and tube-like structures that carry water from the pores in to the gemani and back out. The blood of Oligans is orange because of the chemical they use for oxygen transfer, known as hemokalanin. The one organ that is contained in the torso is the extaperante (derived from Latin word operante, meaning producer, and English word extaca), which all Limusans (phylum Limusa) have. It is situated near the center of the Oligan, closer to the tentacles as to more easily eject extaca.

The tentacles are long appendages at the end of the Oligan, used for locomotion. They are regularly moved in a slow back-and-forth motion to keep the Oligan moving, but when the Oligan is threatened by a predator or other cause, it will begin to move them in a fashion more similar to that of a squid on Earth to escape faster. The number of tentacles varies between species, but all have a singular noticeably longer tentacle that is used to eject extaca when a predator comes nearby. It is internally attached to the extaperante, and can be aimed in almost any direction, able to sense where a predator might be based off of subtle movements in the water.

## Habitat

The first Oligans lived in Quattuoroceanum, existing primarily in coastal regions. As Oligans continued to evolve, they spread greatly around, though few evolved away from their original niche that relied on the abundance of food along these coastlines. By roughly 10 million years after the evolution of the first post-extinction Oligans, Oligans existed worldwide, and were present in most coastal reefs.

## Diet

As Oligans do not have a jaw and are not very fast, they are filter feeders and eat whatever floats into their mouth. This can include small animals, plants, pollas, and even single-celled organisms such as algae. Because of this, they usually live in densely populated areas like reefs where many microscopic or near microscopic organisms live to maximize the amount of food intake. Oligans are not very specialized as they need to eat many different things to survive and thus have digestive systems built to accommodate for all kinds of food.

## Breeding

Interestingly, Oligans have a reproduction system in which they reproduce in a similar manner to sexual production but not truly sexually. This is true of all Brostinostomes. They reproduce in a simple yet effective manner; by replicating their DNA structure, compiling it into a small body called the Paravgo (named after for the Greek translation of "strange egg", paráxeno avgó), and releasing it into the water. When a paravgo meets another of the same species, they combine DNA and begin to develop into an egg. Because of this, all Oligans could be considered female, as they produce egg-like structures for reproduction. The amount of time that it takes for Oligans to develop before hatching varies, though it is usually about 1-3 weeks.

## Adaptations

Oligans typically do not have many environmental adaptations other than camouflage or a warning system through colors, though they do all share one common adaptation: An incredible sense of touch. As they lack eyes, they cannot see like most animals with eyes on both Earth and Hume III, they have extremely sensitive nerve cells on their skin to be able to sense even the slightest movement in the water. This allows them to have a range of "vision" wider than many other animals with true eyes without the energy deficiency of eyes, giving them a significant advantage over many predators. In the case of the subfamily Afimalinae, this is further improved by hair-like appendages around the torso, allowing more sensory stimuli to be picked up.

## Threats

Oligans are not very fast or large and are very nutritionally dense, and because of this they are a major target for many predators such as Duopi. Despite their amazing ability to sense movements in the water, it is estimated that about 50% of Oligans that make it to adulthood are eaten within the first year. However, this is plenty of time for the Oligan to reproduce as some can reproduce as young as 2 months old.

## Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalisaliena

Superphylum: Xenololigana (contains Limusa and Capitemanibus, named after Greek for foreign and Latin for squid)

Phylum: Limusa

Class: Denstima

Order: Parvenatora

Suborder: Radiatora (Radially symmetrical Parvenatores)

Superfamily: Brostinostomoidea (contains Oliganidae, Chorouridae)

Family: **Oliganidae**

Subfamilies, tribes, and genera under Oliganidae:

*Oligana*

*Calvitius* (Hairless Oligans)

Subfamily Afimalinae

* Tribe Plumasini (Feathered Oligans)
	+ *Plumasa*
* Tribe Trichotini (Haired Oligans)
	+ *Trichota*