Moon Conchy
M. herbibiria was a specialized base-consumer that preyed upon the early species A. greenensis. Unfortunately for herbibiria, greenensis eventually died off in an extinction event, leaving herbibiria without a source of food. Luckily, it was able to adapt by eating K. yellowus, a descendant of greenensis. This resulted in Metatestudius conchyluna.
It has a flat, wide, segmented body with a large tail that helps it swim at relatively high speeds. Its sharp, scythe-like front legs, in addition to cutting up food, are also used for self-defense, with six additional legs down the length of its body. Though not particularily aggressive, the legs are often used to scare off competing sukopods. It has complex eyes capable of differentiating between a wide variety of colors, with two spines on its head above them. Two long antennae extend from the front of its head.
Conchyluna feeds on the main body of yellowus, avoiding the toxic seed pods. Its sharp front legs help it cut its food into course pieces before feeding it into its wide oral cavity. The opening to the cavity has two large mandibles used for processing large chunks of food, with two smaller tentacle-like proboscises tipped with spikes that help break up the food further. Like its distant ancestor M. universaoculusii, one proboscis releases digestive fluids into the oral cavity while the other proboscis sucks up the fluids.
Like its ancestor, conchyluna's lifecycle has three stages: Larval, pupal, and adult. On the first full moon of each spring, adults take advantage of the high tide to lay eggs in the substrate on the shores of neighboring zones (C, D, P, and, to a lesser extent, G), which are then fertilized. The eggs hatch after a month during the next high tide when they become moist, and the larvae emerge and are pulled back into the water. They swim around with their tails eating as much miscellaneous polyph matter as possible to prepare for the next stage of their lifecycle. After a month, they burrow into the substrate and enter their pupal stage, during which they will metamorphasize into adults. Toxins are produced and emitted from the shell during this stage to discourage predation. After yet another month, small adults emerge, starting the cycle over once again, reaching their maximum size with following molts.