Porligo

**Porligo** (from Latin, porcus; pig; and lolligo; squid), also known as **Squidhogs**, **Squidpigs**, etc. due to having an analogue that resembles that of their squid-like, Laxoculmus ancestors and sea pigs, are an order of Laxoculmus that have evolved rather differently from the rest of the class, being quadrupedal, two-eyed filter feeders similar to cone snails on earth in some ways.

This order of Laxoculmus was long thought to be extinct, as several fossils were last discovered dating back to 247 million years ago and all showed what are believed to be the same species, and were preserved surprisingly well, and were in fact, the most well-preserved ones ever found, and only recently it has been discovered that they are, in fact, alive, the first living species recorded was the *Trudum Osgus*.

## **Anatomy**

*Vetecin is used as the standard species when describing all porligos.*

### **External** **Anatomy**:

They have an oval-shaped body, which is covered in a layer of soft skin, along with a segmented shell underneath it on the backside. In the front, they have a proboscis of which they suck in water, in turn food as well, along with two eyestalks with a compound eye at the end and four legs tipped with a claw-like digit. On the back, it has three main segments; the first one has two holes on each side, where water comes out after passing through part of their digestive track and their respiratory system, on the bottom half of this segment, it is broken up into many segments to allow the fat storage organ to stretch out.

1. Skin
2. Shell segments covered in skin
3. broken up shell underside
4. Mouth
5. Anus
6. Compound eye
7. Eyestalk
8. Proboscis
9. Limbs
10. Digits
11. Hairs
12. Gill holes

### **Internal Anatomy**:

Porligo are quite simplistic, only having to the base essentials for each system and then some. for the digestive

system, it consists of a mouth, a long esophagus with hairs about halfway through to catch microbes, a stomach, an intestine, a colon, and an anus, along with a special organ for storing fat, which starts filling up starting at winter. For the nervous system, it consists of a simple brain, a nerve cord with several branches, and an extension coming off the brain that extends into its proboscis. For the circulatory system, it consists of a heart and many large veins, which normally run alongside parts of other systems. And lastly, the respiratory system, it consists of two branches from the esophagus, which then branches again into two sets of gills and a slit.

1. Skin
2. Shell segments covered in skin
3. broken up shell underside
4. Mouth
5. Anus
6. Compound eye
7. Eyestalk
8. Proboscis
9. Limbs
10. Digits
11. Hairs
12. Gill holes
13. Trachea
14. Gills
15. Hearts
16. Arteries
17. Muscle rings
18. Brain
19. Frontal nerve cord
20. Main nerve cord
21. Esophagus
22. Reproductive organs
23. Cilia
24. Stomach
25. Liver
26. Fat storage
27. Small Intestine
28. Large Intestine

## **Reproduction**

For the reproductive system, it has three gonads; two male and one female, the male gonads produce sperm and the female gonads are full of egg cells, which require fertilization and regrow every spring. It has rings of muscles throughout the different systems, such as areas where something needs to be able to open and closed, such as around the section between the mouth and esophagus and the sections between the gonads and esophagus.

They are hermaphroditic, during the spring, their fat storage organ will come into use, as every day, they will leave their burrow to look for a mate, if unsuccessful, they will head back to their burrow 1-2 hours before midnight, in this time, they will feed, and once midnight hits, they will fall asleep and switch back to fat for energy. If they are successful in finding another of their species, they will commence in a fight, using their proboscises to determine who the stronger individual is, this one will be the male. Once it has been decided, they will put their mouths together, then the male will send sperm to the female, which then the one who has acquired the sperm will stop this behavior altogether and use up all the fat before continuing feeding as normal, a few days before this, the eggs will hatch and the juveniles will be dispersed from the proboscis, and will stay around their mother until large enough to filter feed, feeding off bacteria on grains of sand. As for the male, they will go back to their burrow and sleep, and continue this process until either spring ends or they are impregnated.

## **Species**

*Multiple descriptions and depictions of Porligo species.*

### ***Vetecin***

**Diet**: This genus is believed to have been a filter feeder similar to some mollusks and worms, sitting buried in the ground, with only its eyes and mouth exposed, sucking in water and using filaments in its mouth to catch food.

**Habitat** : The two species of Vetecin have rather large ranges, the smaller species, Vetecin paracies, living closer to the equator, and the larger one, Vetecin magnucies, living closer to the South Pole. The exact region they inhabit is the continental shelf between what is now Occidentis, Virtu, Tenebris, Meridianam, and part of Media Insula.

This ancient, 247-million-year-old species of Porligo is the oldest genus known to scientists, and have some of the most well-preserved fossils on the planet. This genus has 2 confirmed species, both of which are very similar, the only known difference being their size and range.

### ***Trudum osgus***

**Diet**: This species appears to be a detritivore, as it was observed feeding on any dead organic matter it could find.

**Habitat**: This creature inhabits various rivers going through the second largest landmass of Virtu.

This newly-discovered species of Porligo was discovered in a recent expedition to the second largest island of Virtu, along with many other species that still remain unstudied.

Its mostly darkish blue in color with speckles all over its body, it also has a long trunk like proboscis that likely helps it at foraging for food.

### ***Glossa medianis***

    **Diet:** This species is mostly a herbivore, eating marine pollies and scraping off organisms from rocky areas.

**Habitat:** It inhabits marine environments around Media insula reefs.

**Size:** around 30 cm long

**Reproduction:** sexual, live birth

Commonly called the **Median Pigsquids**, they are medium sized species of porligo that live in the tropical reefs of Media Insula. They mostly feed off of algae like growths, and off of marine pollies that grow on the rocky reefs.

They do so by using their signature tongue to scrape off the organisms. The tongue itself is what has given them their genus name since its a unique adaptation they have developed for their diet. The bristles in their tongue are what its used to scrape off for their food.

They have a very contrasting colorscheme, likely for sexual displays or for interspecies recognition. They also have developed large dermal spines or crests in their carapace, which also probably help them in recognizing each other. While this very contrasting coloration probably doesnt help them in blending in to their environment, considering they live in colorful reefs with many other prey items, they tend to not depend on camouflage as much. They depend much more on their large flipper like limbs to swim rapidly to safety between rocks where predators are unlikely to find them.

### **Chaetoostraca tesminias**

**Diet:** scavenger, detritivore

**Habitat:** rivers and watersheds in and around the temperate rainforests of Terra Septentrionis.

**Size:** 10 cm long

**Reproduction:** sexual, live birth

As North and South Tesminia were explored, the freshwater and saltwater were also explored, the **Pinepork** being one of many species discovered this way, and are a rather notable one at that. The Pinepork is a small species of Porligo that inhabits mainly freshwater environments around the Tesminian Islands, and generally feed on dead organisms. They tend to hang around shelter, where they can easily hide from predators, and food builds up over time. They use a rostrum covered in hair-derived teeth used for scraping food into their mouth, and also bring this in and out to both smell and breathe.

Their shell is covered in multiple spikes of varying shapes and sizes, which deters predators from biting down on them. Unlike their more southern relatives, the Pinepork does not store fat for the mating season or colder months, instead, laying dormant in the sediments from the fall to the spring. During the summer, they commonly roam at night in search of mates, using pheromones secreted from their feet to find mates, which then they fight over who impregnates who, the loser later releasing their planktonic larvae through their mouth and into the waters.

### **Velocilolligus maritimus**

**Diet:** Omnivorous, Scavenger, commonly eating small marine dispeculates

**Habitat:** Reefs and open ocean between the Micha islands and Media Insula.

**Size:** 1 meter long

**Reproduction:** sexual, live birth

The **Bullethogs** are a large, fast and streamlined species of porligo that inhabit warm tropical waters, generally around the reefs in Media Insula. They are very closely related to the Glossa genus, and they also posses the long and prehensile "tongue". In the Bullethogs, this tongue functions in a sense like a radula, it has developed large teeth like growths on the tip of their tongue. This lets them catch and pull prey into their mouth, aswell as scrape algae and forage for water polyspeculates to eat.

    They posses very large wing like fins, which they use to propel themselves quickly through the water. In difference to some other species of porligo, they very rarely use them to crawl on the ground. Other adaptations they have developed for their fast lifestyle is that they have large fin like spines made out of their carapace at their back. These function very much the same as a dolphin's dorsal fin, and helps the Bullethog stay stable while swimming rapidly.

They have almost completely fused their eyestalks into their head, stil somewhat visible. This has helped them become more streamlined which helps them go through the water faster. They are very heavily countershaded, with a dark brown top and a light magenta bottom with a very striking yellow stripe going through their whole body. The stripe likely indicates the individual's fitness and helps them identify other members of their species.They are somewhat social organisms, always found in small groups of 3 or 5 individuals, helping each other forage for food and helping each other evade predators.

## **Unknown species of Porligo**

*A section for depictions of Porligo that dont have much information known of them.*