Ctod
ctods (pl)
Basic Information
Anatomy
Ctods can be segmented into three parts: the head, the body, and the foot. The head contains most of the vital organs, as well as several slits the ctods use to breathe. The body has three eyes, all on one side of the circular torso. At the juncture of the body and head, at the back, is the ctod's sharp hard beak that they eat with.
The foot is webbed and comes with eight arms: flexible, prehensile appendages. Like the rest of the body, the ctod does not have any bones, made of a soft tissue, containing very strong circular muscles which surround a central axial nerve. They can bend in any direction, at any place, as well as be held extremely rigid as the ctod desires. The interior of each arms is covered with suckers made of thick muscle.
Genetics and Reproduction
Ctod reproduction requires a sperm-carrier, an egg-carrier, and a fertilizer. The fertilizer takes the spermatophores and eggs and fertilizes one with the other, before incubating them for five to eight months. The fertilizer does not go to feed during this time, leaving them reliant on either or both the sperm-carrier and the egg-carrier. After the incubation period, the fertilizer lays the eggs, who then hatch 4 to 8 weeks later, during which the eggs grow to near adult size.
Ctod are born in strings from as low as 10 to as many as 100, though not all eggs make it to the laying stage and are absorbed back into the fertilizer. The less amount of eggs laid usually means the longer the fertilizer might live after the hatching of their children, if made to guard their offspring alone.
Growth Rate & Stages
Separated into two stages, ctods are either before-hatched or after-hatched. After their eggs are laid, but before breaking out of their shell, a ctod is fully aware of their surroundings and are taught by their fertilizer. Upon hatching, they are physically and mentally adults.
Ecology and Habitats
While able through humidifiers to travel and live in dry climates, most ctods prefer either a moist environment or one where they have easy access to bathing water.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Ctods are omnivores, though prefer seafood to all other diets. When made to subsist for extended periods of time without seafood, a ctod becomes lethargic and slow. They also prefer to actively hunt their prey - though whether they eat it raw or prepare afterward is a personal choice, the simple act of knowing they were the ones to catch their meal activates the hormone phfrentanide, which aids in digestion.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The positioning of the ctods three eyes gives them a great periphery, able to see at 140 degrees from their focal point. They see better in dim light than bright light, giving them tunnel vision during sunny days or in brightly lit chambers. Tunnel vision to a ctod narrows their periphery to 90 degrees.
Ctods naturally repel themselves from gravitational forces pulling them downwards, hovering at a distance of a foot above the ground at all times (depending on where most of their mass is situated).
Civilization and Culture
Major Language Groups and Dialects
The main ctod language is one of sign language. However, most have learnt how to speak through their breathing slits.
History
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For this extended period of time, ctods were known as slaves, with a free ctod often mistaken as a runaway...
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Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
No longer a slave race, most ctod are still extraordinarily reserved around other races. Despite it not happening in their own lifetimes, understandably ctods are suspicious of most others (especially the _____) and angry when it comes to referencing their longtime servitude to them. They are also impossibly haughty when they deal with any species who have to speak and eat through the same orifice, as ctod never have to worry about choking.
Lifespan
50 years
Average Height
From torso to head: 10''-2'2''
Average Weight
30-105 lbs
Average Length
Arms: 2'-8'
Related Ethnicities