Ruffled Squid
Ruffled Squid eats fruit Wrapped in slimy strands of life Helping kelp to grow
The Planet of New Deseret is home to the largest number of cephalopod species in known space. As a result, cephalopods have evolved to fill many niches in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. The Ruffled Squid is one such example, facilitating the pollination of underwater plants in its home of The Persian Kelp Forest.
Physical Description
Adult Ruffled Squids are 15 to 25 cm in length, with their mantle taking up 2/3 of their total body length. Long ruffled fins extend from the mantle, similar in appearance to leaves growing on the kelp species that exist in their surroundings. These ruffled fins have chromatophores in the skin that change color to match their environment but are also used in colorful mating displays.
Diet
Ruffled squids feed on the fruit that grows inside the flowers or on the stems of the kelp species in their home environment. While eating Ruffled Squids latch onto the stem of kelp trees with a few of their long tentacles while their arm tentacles reach for the fruit they want. In this position the Ruffled Squid extends its fins, which change color and drift in current to match the leaves of the kelp tree the squid is attached to.
Role as Pollinators
The underwater plants of the Persian Kelp Forest pollinate by secreting a DNA rich mucus from the petals or their flowers or on their leaves. As the Ruffled Squid eats the kelp fruit this mucus rubs off the plant and attaches to the squid's body. When the squid moves to the next kelp tree this mucus rubs off onto the new plant where it results in fertilization.
Reproduction
When they are sexually mature male Ruffled Squids will weave balls of kelp leaves together with a hollow interior. The male will fill this hollow with fresh fruits collected from nearby underwater plants, disposing of any fruit that goes bad. When a female Ruffled Squid swims by the male will flare out his fins, changing their color in an undulating pattern as he faces the female and dances vertically in front of her.
If successful the dance and light show have a hypnotic effect on the female, who follows the backwards swimming male to his nest. There she will inspect the quality of his nest and fruit. If they are to her standard the female will enter the nest and signal willingness to mate by changing her color to a bright orange.
After a male and female Ruffled Squid mate, the female lays her now fertilized eggs inside the nest prepared by the male. These eggs (usually around 50) hatch within 4-5 weeks and the young remain in the nest for 7-8 weeks until they grow to the point of being crowded, at which point they leave to live life on their own. During their nest period the young are guarded by one parent at all times while the other collects fruit and mucus for the hatch-lings to eat.
Comments