Snowflake Hexug
5 inches in diameter
This Hexix, named for Squidy, continues the trend of shell reduction to decrease resource requirements for growth as the shell never begins growing at all. Like its ancestors it feeds on the seeds of Miniplortatus species that fall into the water and lives in Zone 19.
Hexix squidyii lacks a shell because the tissue that secreted the shell now atrophies during embryonic development, preventing the formation of the shell. They attempt to lay their eggs where their shell’s opening would be, but due to the lack of a shell the eggs fall into the sediment, where they develop and then hatch.
They are hermaphrodites and can both sexually reproduce or self-fertilize.
As their respiratory system often is partially collapsed, the Snowflake Hexug uses its skin more for oxygen intake, it being slightly wrinkled to allow more oxygen to pass through.
