Diastoga crustalar

Diastoga crustalar
Creator	Squidy
Information
Status	Extant
Zones	F
Roles	Parasite
Classification
Genus	Diastoga
Species	Diastoga crustalar
Evolution
Date	June 20th, 2020
Ancestor	Diastoga brevivilla
Descendants	Diastoga uligonato

Helix pestis, like its ancestors Helix bullous and Helix pessulus, would return to the water to replenish the water stored in its shell when necessary. Sometimes this would lead to microorganisms being captured inside the shell, such as Sidocoga brevivilla. These circumstances lead to Sidocoga crustalar, a parasite of Helids that lives inside of their shells and feeds upon their flesh. Its primary host is Helix pestis, but Helix ebriatus can also be infected if it enters infected waters.

Growing to a max size of 1μm, S. crustalar lives inside the moisture and gill chambers of Helids. It breaks down the flesh of its host using enzymes delivered from the microvilli that coat its body. Unlike its ancestor, the microvilli are very rigid and sharp, reinforced with inner microtubules. S. crustalar impales the cells lining the chambers and injects enzymes inside, killing the cell. As the cells is broken down the nutrients that are released are absorbed for by S. crustalar.

When the host dies or returns to the water to refill its moisture chamber, some S. crustalar will be naturally flushed out or use their flagella to seek out a new host, while others remain affixed to the chamber tissues. While they do not necessarily need a host to survive, the rigidity of their microvilli increases drag when swimming, making movement less efficient.

S. crustalar reproduces by mitosis.