Haze medusa

Overview

This creature, found in spanish waters, is a stable mutation of the portuguese man o' war, caused by the saturation of the waters along the spanish coastline with various industrial chemicals. Just like its genetic predecessor, the haze medusa is a swarm creature, comprised of a large main body and a myriad of smaller organisms that fulfill a variety of specialised tasks. Though technically not a jellyfish, the spanish word medusa has stuck due to the creature's ability to display a surprising amount of colours on its hood.

Senses

The haze medusa's main body has little in the way of sensory organs, but is host to two kinds of sensory organisms.

The first is a series of mobile creatures capable of sensing specific chemicals in the surrounding water which they require as food. These organisms will gather along the main body and tentacles, dependent on where they sense the highest level of pollutants. Thus allowing the main body to direct its movements to stay in highly polluted waters.

The second are colonies of infrared sensitive bacteria which grow on either side of the hood. When these bacteria sense infrared radiation they begin to aggressively multiply in relation to the strength of the radiation, increasing the internal pressure at their specific spot of the hood, thus letting the haze medusa sense their way, for example towards the body heat of another sea creature.

Movement

The haze medusa is faster and more agile than its more common relatives, relying on specialised organisms in its swarm for propulsion. Three to four swarm organisms attach themselves to the main body's hood during its lifecycle, improving its agility with age. Each of these organisms is capable of sucking in water at an incredible rate and expelling it equally rapidly, allowing the whole body of the creature to explosively close the distance to its intended prey.

Prey

Commonly the diet of the creature consists of the heavily poluted fish population around the spanish coastline. Haze medusas have been observed to have a preference for larger prey that has been incapacitated by side effects of the toxic waters, greedily devouring the insides of such creatures.

The haze medusa drifts in the ocean currents until it detects prey in its vicinity. At this point the creature becomes a flurry of activity, with swarm creatures running underneath the transparent hood to deliver nutrients excreeted by the main body to the specialised movement organisms. This spectacle creates a luminescent reaction under the hood as all these creatures rub against each other, this has been speculated to aid the creatures hunting success, possibly serving as bait, comparable to an angler fish's lure.

Danger to humans