Mudskimmer
<:STURGESQUAD:587543846791938074> Sturge Squad coming through, move out the way! Sturge or purge!
Sturgoslontus opscuruclavis is a 15-centimeter long homie derived from S. sturgenousis, but prefers to keep things low-key. With the recent evolution of S. sturgenmacrops, sturgensis and sturgenousis were getting devoured left and right. Sturgenousis' flashy pink stripe, used to find mates, unfortunately just made them easier for predators to spot.
Opscuruclavis feature dull, brownish colors to match the muddy substrate of Zone 10, with a light-brown stripe running down the length of its body. It's body is low-profile, with wide, flat fins. It sticks close to the mud as it sifts through the substrate for delicious detritus with its masculine whiskers, picking out the edible bits of particulate matter from the mud. When resting, they tend to bury themselves in the mud by flapping their fins to stir up the substrate until they are sufficiently covered.
Because of its dull appearance, finding mates can be more difficult. Males, when they're in the mood to breed, are particularly active, swimming around endlessly until they literally bump into a potential mate. Like their ancestors, they lay their eggs at the base of polyphs. Opscuruclavis will lay its eggs as low as possible and then cover them with a thin layer of mud to obscure them from hungry sturgenmacrops, a behavior similar to that of its distant ancestor S. sturgeous. Batches vary from 30-50 eggs.
