Crescenthorn Trilobite

The Crescenthorns are a species of small filter-feeding trilobite, named for their signature cradle-like horns. Unlike their cousins, the Horned Trilobites, they travel alone, and are extremely fast creatures. They also have long feeding appendages curled inside their mouth cavity, and when these trilobites are faced with a threat, the appendages can dart out and pierce a predator's skin with their sharp tips.

Basic Information

Anatomy

These bugs have very short compact bodies covered in smooth exoskeletal plates. Their heads are large, with their horns curving upward to form crescent shapes, and their wide mouths situated to allow their bristled mouthparts to dart out and catch their food.

Biological Traits

Female Crescenthorns have slightly larger horns with small serrations on the outside, mainly to make a better cradle for the eggs.

Genetics and Reproduction

Male members of this species will engage in races to try to catch up with their desired partner, and females will often host these races every once in a while in order to select a worthy partner to mate with. If a male shows enough physical prowess to be able to catch his mate, their eggs will be laid and left to the mother to care for. While the father leaves, the mother will travel all over the Fields with her eggs stored inside the safety of her horns, the eggs excreting a type of glue to stay put.

Growth Rate & Stages

After these bugs hatch, they will stay crammed together on their mother's head until their shells get stronger. The mother will then stop for a short while in order to keep her children on her head. As soon as the young start walking around, the mother will have to keep a slow pace to let them keep up with her, until they gain the stamina needed for adult life. It is thought that because of these limitations with the young, these trilobites prefer to mate within close proximity of dense groupings of plankton in order to feed easier.

Ecology and Habitats

Crescenthorn Trilobites live in the Fields, running over the seabed at high speeds. The majority of their lives consist of them constantly traveling to new locations in search of their main food source, which puts them at risk of encountering various predators that rely on their food to come to them. Their tracks are the most common in their environment, but still constantly get swept away by the currents.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Cresecenthorn Trilobites are filter feeders, feeding off a specific type of chemosynthetic plankton native to the Fields. This plankton has been observed to be particularly hard to catch, causing these trilobites to have to run from place to place. It also explains why they have extendable mouthparts that fan out in an instant in order to catch unsuspecting plankton.

Biological Cycle

Occasionally, if a mother has raised enough young, the glue from her eggs will build up in her horns and harden, forming small crystal-esque structures.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

While Crescenthorn Trilobites mainly use their large compound eyes to detect their environment, they also make use of their long antennae from time to time. When they are traveling, their antennae are retracted into their mouth, as they are very thin and could easily be damaged from crawling at such high speeds.

Scientific Name

Trilobita lunae

Lifespan

Unknown

Average Weight

100 lbs.

Average Length

2 ft.

Average Physique

Bulky

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Grey shell, glowing white eyes

Geographic Distribution

• The Ash Fields

Average Intelligence
Low