Vermoides

## Vermoides cuniculumus

Status: LC

Temporal Range: R.126 - Present (Untrustolithic)

Habitat: Temperate Shallows, Polar Shallows, Temperate Upper Ocean, Polar Upper Ocean

Distribution: Northern Hemisphere

Niche: Benthic Filter-Feeder

Size: 7cm (length)

Nutritional Worth:

Predecessor: Lepirhamphos geminus

Classification: Vermoidesinae (sf), Codowecoiidae (f), Probocephala (o), Cylindrea (c), Bilateria (p)

Perception: Blurry vision with no depth perception on either side, binocular blurry vision to the front, can use chemoreception up to ten metres away.

Latest Mutations: Segments, Setae, Consume Sediment To Dig

Info: The sediment under the northern seas are riddled with this worm, Vermoides cuniculumus, which both digs with its mouth to eat the life within it and to burrow to evade predators. They have segmented bodies and hairy setae along the skin to aid in burrowing movements.

Anatomy: It has a blue, segmented body with a hydrostatic skeleton, with a proboscis, covered in chemoreceptors. Chitinous bristles called setae protrude from the skin. It has four pinhole eyes, two at the front and one on each side. At the end of the body is a hyponome. It has a pool of bitter chemicals inside and a stomach of carnivorous digestive enzymes in the gut. It has an open circulatory system and a basic nervous system. It is capable of budding.

Behaviour: This species is capable of processing information gathered from sense receptors and using that to form a picture of its surroundings. It can then respond to stimuli. It also has basic reasoning. It ingests sediment to burrow.

Discoverer: StealthStyle

## Vermoides bathyus

Status: LC

Temporal Range: R.140 - Present (Gammavian Stage of the Atroxian)

Habitat: Lower Ocean, 500 - 1500m

Distribution: Cosmopolitan

Niche: Sediment Filter-Feeder

Size: 7cm (length)

Nutritional Worth:

Predecessor: Vermoides validus

Classification: Vermoidesinae (sf), Codowecoiidae (f), Probocephala (o), Cylindrea (c), Bilateria (p)

Perception: Blurry vision with no depth perception on either side, binocular blurry vision to the front, can use chemoreception up to ten metres away.

Latest Mutations: High Pressure Osmolytes

Info: The sediment of the deep ocean is peppered with Vermoides bathyus.

Intelligence / Behaviour: Processes information and responds based on fixed behaviours. It knows to eat and avoid being harmed. Ingests sediment to bury itself.

External Features: It has a cylindrical body with blue pigmentation and a proboscis. The thin skin layer is covered in setae. A mouth and chemoreceptors sit on the proboscis. There are two pinhole eyes on the front of the head, as well as one also on each side. There is a hyponome at rear.

Internal Features: Each cell contains lysozymes in addition to enzymes. Hydrostatic muscles surround the hemacoel. A network of vascular blood vessels circulates blue blood containing hemocyanin, bitter fluid and anti-freeze proteins. It is pumped by several small hearts. The gastrointestinal tract from the mouth has a stomach with digestive juices followed by intestines leading to the anus. A brain encased in the head connects to two nerve cords which branch into a network of nerves. It hosts both male and female gonads. Protonephridia, connected to hemacoel, expels waste through pores.

Discoverer: StealthStyle