| Slithersucker | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Naming | |||
| Binomen | N/A | ||
| Morphology | |||
| Body type | Amorphous | ||
| Intelligence | |||
| Sentience | Unknown | ||
| Sapience | Non-Sapient | ||
| Ecology | |||
| Place of origin | Pangaea II | ||
| Habitat | Lichen Trees | ||
| Diet | Carnivorous | ||
| Locomotion | Crawling Parasiting Megasquids | ||
| Behind the Scenes | |||
| Universe | The Future Is Wild | ||
Slithersuckers are a species of predatory slime molds which inhabit the Lichen Tree forests of northern Pangaea II, 200 million years in the future.
Biology[]
Similar to a modern-day slime mold, Slithersuckers appear as orange-colored amorphous creatures and live inside the holes of the Lichen Trees. They feed by spreading themselves over a tree branch and dripping down sticky threads to capture Forest Flish in mid-flight. After they've captured prey, they secrete a digestive fluid to quickly dissolve it. The Flish remains fertilize the forest, thus benefiting the Lichen Tree as well, making the association of Lichen Trees and Slithersuckers a case of mutualistic symbiosis.
Slithersuckers move very slowly, and have developed a unique method of spreading themselves, taking advantage of their amorphous nature to mimic the appearance of the "fruits" (spore pods) of the Lichen Trees. While disguised as "fruits", they get eaten by Megasquids. Inside the Megasquid's body, the cells that form the Slithersucker divide themselves, and some migrate to the beast's brain in order to take control of its body. Other cells travel to the Megasquid's air sacs instead, causing irritation. The result is that the Megasquid moves to a different location and violently sneezes out the Slithersucker, thus spreading it over the branches of different Lichen Trees.