Concealing Helix
Viciousfruit (Fructohelix malificus) entering Zone 12 from Zone 5 threatening local helids species. Filtering Helix (Filterohelix filtaclama) adaptated to avoid predation resulting in speciation.
6-11 cm long
The Concealing Helix spends their life in the sediment in one spot, rarely ever dislodging to move around. The Concealing Helix spends most of their time buried in the sediment with their tentacles and mouth exposed. The outer tentacles still taste and smell the environment, while the inner tentacles have developed their spines further for filter feeding. These spines have become long, thin, and extremely numerous aiding in filter feeding, finely straining the water for organic material such as detritus, biofilm, and the seeds of Megaplortatus seaflorensus. They often end up catching the eggs of Ruminasqualus rotundus which they eat. To avoid consuming substrate while bringing their tentacles towards the mouth to feed, the outer rim of the mouth has developed an extended fleshy tube that pokes out of the sediment.
When food is caught the Concealing Helix will move the tentacle with food on it towards their mouth tube. This tube can open and close quickly causing suction pulls the food on their spines into their mouth.
Their main defense against the Viciousfruit is to retract their tentacles into their shell within the sediment where the Viciousfruit has difficulty reaching them. The spines on the inner tentacles can't be fully retracted into the shell and act as a deterrent.
Concealing Helix developed of a series of simple eyes with five of them forming a row on each side of the inner tentacles, a grand total of 40 eyes, which help detect differences between light and dark. While they may not be able to pick up a clear picture, they are enough to detect movement. At night, when it becomes dark completely, they will retract their tentacles and go to sleep since their warning system to is useless in these conditions.
The Concealing Helix breed asexually or sexually and then carry their eggs within their shells. When the eggs hatch the babies come out of their parent shell and they feed on any organic material under the substrate until they're big enough to be on the surface. This is usually one of the rare times this species moves around since their specialized anatomy, especially on the inner tentacles, means they are extremely awkward crawlers and can barely move around at all. This tends to result in youngsters often settling down in the sediment near their parents, forming groups of individuals close together. This can help individuals since others may spot danger and react, thus warning them of approaching danger as well.
