Sapphire Worm

Artwork

Weight:
130lbs

The **Sapphire Worm** (*Digivermus darwinii*), also known as the **Lapis Lazuli Worm**, is an original species created and designed by TheAgent41. The Sapphire Worm inhabits the *The Hole* universe, an original universe created by TheAgent41.

## Appearance and Anatomy

The sapphire worm is a medium-sized scolopendriform closely related to the troglodytic giant ghostworm. Stretching five feet in length, the sapphire worm, true to its name, is a bright electric blue in color with smatterings of darker blues and dark golds, a coloration scheme that gives it the alternate name "lapis lazuli worm".

Living in the azure rainforests of Achlys, the sapphire worm navigates its environment using its seven pairs of featureless, pillar-like legs. Its body is supported by a powerful hydrostatic skeleton, allowing it to fill its legs with water via hydraulic pumps for locomotion. Like the ghostworm, the tips of its feet contain mucus glands, which allow it to easily climb trees. Like most Achlysian lifeforms, the sapphire worm navigates mainly by sensing the body heat of organisms in its environment. However, there is evidence to suggest that the sapphire worm may also utilize a crude, imprecise form of echolocation.

Though the worm's circular mouth is deceptively small at first glance, it is capable of expanding to five times its normal size in order to expose its scissor-like jaws, a form of convergent evolution with Earth's bobbit worm.

## Ecology

### Behavior and Intelligence

Sapphire worms are semi-arboreal creatures, meaning they spend approximately half of their lives in the trees and half of them on the forest floor. They are generally more at home in the tree canopy, but they will occasionally make their way to the forest floor to migrate to a new grove of trees or to defecate.

Sapphire worms aren't necessarily social creatures, but they are not as territorial as other species in that they will not immediately attempt to fight off or intimidate other sapphire worms. Observations have shown that the sapphire worm is a fairly curious creature with intelligence on par with some rodents. Captured individuals have displayed the ability to solve mazes, as well as the ability to remember the layouts of mazes over a span of several days.

The sapphire worm has many natural predators in the rainforest, one of the most prominent being the cerulean junglefiend. In fact, it has been hypothesized that the junglefiend is one of the most prominent reasons why the sapphire worm adapted an arboreal lifestyle.

### Diet

Because they feed primarily on floravite blood, sapphire worms could be considered omnivores, seeing as how floravites are essentially plant/animal hybrids. Using their powerful serrated mandibles, sapphire worms will climb to the vertical center of the floravite's trunk (the location of the floravite's main heart) and cut a slit into the tree's flesh. It will then use its straw-like tongue to drink from the floravite's bleeding wound. To prevent the floravite from bleeding to death, the worm will often use its mucus gland to seal the wound.

### Reproduction

During the mating season, which lasts for approximately three weeks, adult sapphire worms will emit special pheromones designed to attract mates. When two adults come across one another, each will release a small cocoon from its cloaca. This cocoon is composed of dried mucus and is essentially a hollow bag of sperm. Each individual will use its jaws to rip open its partner's sperm sac and then use its straw-like pharynx to ingest the sperm, which will be transported to the reproductive organs.

When a sapphire worm is ready to give birth, it will climb to a high point in the tree canopy and produce yet another dried mucus sac from its cloaca. This sac is filled with up to 12 writhing newborn worms, which will use their jaws to tear open the sac and start their lives.

## Trivia

* The scientific name *Digivermus darwinii* loosely translates from Latin as "Darwin's finger worm".

## Gallery

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