Hydronian Cryofrond

Sweepstakes colonization can lead to some great opportunities for species which survive the journey. Hydronian Cryofrond is one of the lucky few to survive and has colonized the Hydro-Barlowe Polar Sea. Its cryofrond ancestor struggled to survive here and was eventually replaced by the Hydronian Cryofrond in its range. It has had to adapt to pressures it had never encountered: crystal life. The crystalmat is the major macro producer of the sea, and its control over the seabed is only countered by the shovelface. In this, the Hydronian Cryofrond seized an opportunity. The shovelface would create barrens of substrate in the patchwork of the mats, the perfect place to get a footing. The Hydronian Cryofrond has thus adapted to live its life as fast as possible. Its spores are hardy. Both free-floating and in the substrate, they can be viable for multiple years existing as a cyst. Once conditions are favorable and it can reach open substrate, it quickly germinates and grows to full size. Once it reaches full size, its goal is reproduction and expansion. It will constantly produce spores and will send out runners to fill as much area as possible. Provided the shovelface population is stable and halting the advance of the crystals, the Hydronian Cryofrond can survive the full season. Come winter, the stem and fronds will eventually die, but much like its cousins, the anchors stay dormant to regrow from come spring, provided it can do so before the crystal mats regrow and overtake it.