Nebulimpa protos

Nebulimpa protos
Creator	Sneal
Information
Status	Extant
Zones	25, 27, 28
Roles	Producer
Classification
Genus	Nebulimpa
Species	Nebulimpa protos
Evolution
Date	March 6th, 2019
Ancestor	Unknown
Descendants	Nebulimpa viscosifilum

On the surface of Zone 27 you can often see a large purple mat floating along the top of the water. This is Nebulimpa protos, and while you may think it's a Polyph, it's actually an example of one of the few clades of photosynthetic palaeans. Instead of Chlorophyll, N. protos uses Bacteriorhodopsin for photosynthesis. Bacteriorhodopsin works by creating a proton gradient, an electrochemical gradient based on the amount of protons from either side of a membrane, via light and turning that into ATP. N. protos is specifically adapted for freezing temperatures via producing different kinds of anti-freezing compounds to prevent ice crystals from forming, since those can rupture cell membranes. They reproduce roughly every 10-15 minutes, via budding a smaller version of themselves which slowly grow until it splits off completely from its parent. They are around 2μm each and live in large, evergrowing colonies.