Gastroguard

Artwork, facing to the right

Weight:
2lbs

The **Gastroguard** (*Ventripraesta lutoperrepus*) is an original species created and designed by TheAgent41. The Gastroguard inhabits the *The Hole* universe, an original universe created by TheAgent41.

## Appearance and Anatomy

The gastroguard is a small, roughly banana-shaped carnevite measuring approximately six inches in length. Its body is covered in peach-colored, translucent skin that perpetually excretes a thick mucus that keeps its skin moist and gives off a foul taste that helps to ward away predators.

The gastroguard's front and underbelly are covered by a thick, leathery green hide. This hide has a texture similar to that of snake scales, being smooth and heavily armored. This protective "peel" seems to have evolved as a protective measure against the piercer, one of the gastroguard's most common predators. The back and rear of the creature seem to have been left unprotected because of the gastroguard's respiratory habits. Gastroguards respire in a manner similar to Earth amphibians, taking in oxygen through their semi-permeable skin. By producing their frog-like mucus, gastroguards allow themselves to venture onto land for short periods of time.

The front of the body has two large thermal pits like those of most rigidiscapulid carnevites. These thermal pits allow the gastroguard to detect the body heat of other organisms, but evidence suggests that the infrared sense of the gastroguard is less precise than that of more advanced organisms. The protective peel also covers the gastroguard's locomotive lobes, which it uses to drag itself across the muddy swamp floors. These flippers, along with the rest of the body, are supported via a hydrostatic skeleton.

The unprotected part of the gastroguard's back is dominated by a large gaping cloaca, which functions as a mouth, waste disposal system, and reproductive orifice. When underwater, this cloaca can be used to suck up microscopic bits of food. Inside this cloaca, the "esophagus" splits into two pathways, one for consuming food and expelling waste and the other for releasing and taking in sperm.

## Ecology

### Behavior and Intelligence

The gastroguard is a largely unintelligent and passive carnevite. They tend to live in large groups that can reach populations of up to 40 or so. Despite their social lifestyles, they aren't particularly affectionate, usually only acknowledging the existence of other group members during the mating season or during disputes over food.

### Diet

Gastroguards, like many aquatic or semi-aquatic carnvites, are filter-feeders, indiscriminately sucking up any particulate matter that is caught in their cloaca's suction. Food can include the waste, sperm, and free-floating larvae of other organisms or other gastroguards. It also includes floating floravite pods, fallen floravite lobes, or microscopic organisms.

### Reproduction

Gastroguards are sexually reproducing hermaphrodites that engage in a mating season that lasts for three Earth weeks every year. Unlike many other aquatic carnevites, such as many pinnapodes, gastroguards can't take in sperm from multiple partners at a time. Thus, gastroguards tend to fight over desired mates. During such battles, gastroguards will rear up on the tip of their tails while facing each other and begin slapping each other with their flippers. Their goal seems to be to knock their opponent onto their side with a hard enough slap.

Gastroguards use their cloacas to take in and release seminal fluid. Pregnant gastroguards that are preparing to give birth do so in a manner similar to gastric-brooding fish and surinam toads. Instead of laying eggs, gastroguard young develop inside the parent's body. When the parent is ready to give birth, it violently expels the young from its cloaca in an act that could be compared visually to sneezing. Up to 50-60 newborn gastroguards can be released at one time by a single adult. Newborn gastroguards are incredibly small, no bigger than two or three millimeters in length. Instead of dwelling on the swamp floor, newborns are free-floating planktonic organisms that can hardly swim and are forced to float in place, feeding on microorganisms until they grow enough to gain their protective peels and settle on the water's bottom.

## Trivia

* The scientific name *Ventripraesta lutoperrepus* loosely translates from Latin as "mud-crawling belly guard."

## Gallery

Artwork