Brushmouth Paraglider
Dwelling in the Yksin Watershed is a small creature using 5 pairs of fins to swim around close to the riverbed, this muscal strains small prey or detritus out of the sediment using dozens of needle-like teeth.This creature is the Brushmouth Paraglider, Contentiolatis parva.
3 centimeters long
The Brushmouth Paraglider has several adaptations to avoid predation, despite the fact that it's the top predator in its ecosystem in modern times. It is capable of moving in a quick burst of speed that it would use to evade threats. The sharp vision of the Brushmouth Paraglider and its brownish tan coloration are adaptations that would help with avoiding potential threats. Despite these adaptations no longer having as much use when the Brushmouth Paraglider first appeared it lived alongside other now extinct species that would’ve been its predators.
The Brushmouth Paraglider is strictly solitary because they only feed on small prey items and because they primarily rely on hiding rather than numbers to survive predators. The Brushmouth Paraglider will eat a wide range of small game living on the river bed as well as bits of organic matter in the sediment. For these kinds of food, the Brushmouth Paraglider will take in large mouthfuls of dirt. The dozens of needle-like teeth in the creature’s mouth sift through the sediment and capture the tiny organisms hiding within it to be consumed. If they are disturbed by something, a Brushmouth Paraglider will quickly head for stands of Aruraherba sp. to hide or push themselves into the riverbed and hide in the sediment. Once the perceived threat is gone, the Paraxenians will come out and return to foraging.
Female Brushmouth Paragliders shed off their chitin plates about every month or so, males do it once every 3 months instead, during which they will also release pheromones for males to pick up and find them. This can attract multiple male Brushmouth Paragliders all willing to mate with the female, but they must display fitness to be chosen by the female. The female Brushmouth Paraglider will swim quickly for long periods of time, with her potential suitors having to keep up. The one that stays by her side the longest is the one that gets to mate. Copulation is very brief, with the male Brushmouth Paraglider releasing his sperm into the water column in close proximity to the female’s cloaca to fertilize the eggs inside her. These 20-40 eggs remain within the mother for about 2 weeks to develop before the young eventually hatch inside her body. Once the young hatch, they will then be born live, with their underdeveloped chitin plates being soft making the process of exiting the cloaca easier. Being around 1 millimeter long when born, the larval Brushmouth Paragliders feed upon tiny bits of organic matter in the sediment since they are too small to feed on other types of food. The youngsters also grow quickly, since they are an ideal size to be prey for the adults of their own species. In the two months it takes to reach adult size, these youngsters will shed their chitin plates every few days at first, with the chitin becoming harder and harder each time. After around 3 weeks, the rate of molts slows down to about once a week before eventually slowing down to the rates seen in adult Brushmouth Paragliders.
The Brushmouth Paraglider has a skull, gill plate, and backbone that are fully ossified. The pelvic girdles, limb bones, and fin rays are made out of cartilage. They possess camera eyes to see their environment and a closed circulatory system. The nervous system has a brain and spinal cord alongside specialized neurons organized in lobes.
