Greedy FIre Devourer

Basic Information

Anatomy

The fire eater is similarly shaped to a Terran Octopus, with a bulbous round body, seven large tentacles protrude from the central body with smaller vine like tentacles branching off closer to the mouth. The dome like body is covered in a rough texture that helps it blend in with its background. The skin of the Fire Eater can shift colour although it is too early in the studies whether it is due to a camouflage or some other method reason.

Attempts to study the Fire Eater have been limited at best. The species is exceptionally hot and does not do well outside of it's native habitat, having evolved to survive extreme temperatures and pressure near the thermal vents. So far all discoveries have been made while observing the Fire Eater in it's natural habitat.

Fire Eaters measure on average 48cm from the body with a further 12cm for the length of their tentacles. They're roughly the size of a small cat with long tentacles designed for food collection.

Genetics and Reproduction

Fire eaters reproduce once every two years. Unlike earth octopus they are not solitary creatures, although they appear to have large territories between with females in the centre of territorial boundaries. During the height of the thermal venting female Fire eaters cluster around the hottest and deepest vents gorging on the available food sources before scattering and disappearing from the feeding grounds.
It was a lucky happenstance that one of the deep sea bots was able to tag a fleeing female fire eater for later tracking. They appear to travel several hundred kilometres away the feeding grounds where they verge on what appear to be dormant vents.
The males during this time also converge on these vents and begin a careful mating ritual of cleaning the debris and vent caps off so they can access the still hot chambers within. The female Fire eaters appear to elect one female to inspect the vent chambers. As of this time, our scientists believe the female chosen differs by group, as it does not appear to follow any apparent age markers.
When the female elected chooses a thermal vent she places body on centre and wraps her appendages around the vent stack and releases her clutch. When finished, the other females add their clutch filling the vent. As the females disperse, the males converge on the super clutch and fill the surrounding water with clouds of sperm. The males and females swim circles around the vent funnelling the sperm cloud into the thermal vent.
The working theory is that instead of focusing sperm into the vent chamber and risk one male fertilizing an entire generation, the cloud mixes the various material and the fire eater made whirlpool funnels it through the clutches for maximum genetic variety. As the sperm cloud fades and the heat from the thermal vent shifts up through the clutch, the males pile rocks and other debris over the vent to protect the clutches.
The females leave the nest and return to the feeding grounds, while the males stay and guard the vent while the super clutch gestates.
Gestation lasts 180 Sol days, with the females tagging the males at day 60. The males return to the hunting grounds, gorge themselves and return to spell the females for another 40 days. The last twenty days, hatching begins and both male and female fire eaters stand guard as hatching commences. The debris is removed to allow the hatchlings room to move and break from their egg sacs.

Growth Rate & Stages

Once Fire Eaters have hatched they grow rapidly over the intervening months, gaining 60% of their size within their first year of development. After that it enters a juvenile stage where it gains mass and finishes growing so that by its fourth year they've reached adulthood and begin the the trek back to the farming vents to lay their own clutches.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Fire Eater is almost a misnomer, while they live and eat around the hydrothermal vent tubes springing up from the volcanic underbelly of Europa, they do not appear to eat sedimentary rock or inorganic material. However, they do feast on the variety of plant and small animal life that thrive around the warmth radiating off the vents. 
Other small crustaceans and tiny invertebrates make their homes around the hydrothermal vents including many varieties of sea slugs and sea worms, anemone and limited varieties of coral. Some shrimp have been observed as well. 
The Fire Eater, gets it's name because of the way they hunt. Shaped and roughly the size of a kitten, they center themselves just below one of the vent releases and blend in with their surroundings until shrimp and other creatures come to the plumes to feed. The fire eater snaps out a tentacle encircles its prey and then shoves it into the super heated plume of gas cooking the prey in water well above boiling. The Fire eater does not appear to be damaged by this, in fact, they have been observed to hide within the boiling waters of the thermal clouds to avoid predators.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

It is believed that the Fire Eater has limited sight and hearing, but exceptional touch based sensory input from the various tentacle appendages and the sensitive soft body that appears to react to tidal shifts and thermal changes within the environment. It doesn't need to depend on sight when most of its existence is deep under water with limited light sources. Even the little light emitted by the thermal vents is clouded by the microorganisms and other debris spewed into the water.
Yet, the Fire eater is capable of sensing prey nearby and respond accordingly.

Scientific Name

Ignis edax avido

Conservation Status

Currently under protection for being the first non microscopic extraterrestrial species discovered in the solar system.

Geographic Distribution

• Europa