Nerópteron

With the mass extinction killing off many of the large swimming predators some members of the psudotetrapoda line took the opportunity to become free swimming. This has led to a new line that is more agile and swift swimming then many of the more heavily armored swimmers of the age. Nerópteron lives in small schools above the vast fields of sargraso plants as small herbivores they have become masters of evasion. Pictured here a pair of Nerópteron sim over a sargrasso stand. [Creature design by Saurusblood]

Basic Information

Anatomy

Nerópteron was much thinner then it’s bobirb ancestors This is mainly to reduce drag while swimming through the water. Its forelegs became more aerodynamic and flipper-like, convergently evolving with many of the Dyomisa descendants. The hind limbs lost much of their muscle mass and the tips have curled in on themselves creating a hook-like appendage. These were used primarily for anchoring its body while resting.
The most noteworthy feature though is the development of a cartilaginous gillcord to support an internal gill system. This protects the gills from parasites but also allows for more direct circulation of oxygen.

Genetics and Reproduction

Nerópteron practice sexual selection with males competing for females by hooking their hind limbs onto sargrasso stems and attempting to dislodge competitors by swatting at them with their pectoral fins. Females will attach themselves to the same sargrasso stem as the victorious male and deposit a string of unfertilized eggs held together by a mucous membrane. The male will then fertilize the eggs and await more females to be attracted to his sargrasso stem. Matting season takes place after the storm season.

Growth Rate & Stages

Nerópteron starts life as an egg and will hatch after 30 local days. They begin as a miniature version of the adults and are referred to as nymphs. They will spend the first 2 years of their lives among the lower stem of sargrasso fields filtering food from the substrate until they are too large to swim unhampered by the sargrasso. This marks the beginning of their adult lives.

Ecology and Habitats

Nerópteron live exclusively in sargrasso fields in the shallow sea between Yama and Kub Shay. If the field of sargrasso plants they live on dies out they will leave in search of another field or be unable to breed.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Nerópteron have a sucking jawless mouth and feed exclusively on filtering sandy substrate or on single celled retinalphytes on sargrasso plants.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The chemoreceptors on it’s head have reduced in size compared to the ancestral bobird as a means to reduce drag at the expense of reduced sensitivity. This has led to the base of the chemoreceptors becoming more sensative to vibrations turning into a primitive ear. Nerópteron are more reliant on vision than their ancestor and are therefore purely diurnal.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Bobird

Scientific Name

Nerópteron charitoménos

Origin/Ancestry

Pseudotetrapoda

Lifespan

5 local years

Average Height

2 cm

Average Length

17 cm

Geographic Distribution

• Almaishah