Litusgrexes

The Litusgrexes arose from a cancerous growth on a Lituslug, which twisted and trashed their genome to eventually create a bizarre resimplified organism. This was able to occur because of the Lituslug’s only recently-multicellular nature; genes from its unicellular ancestors were still retained, only dormant, and easily awakened by the original cancerous growth to help what would soon become the Litusgrexes to survive.

Litusgrexes spend most of their time as single cells resembling miniature Litusfoi. During times of environmental stress, they form a grex which resembles a Lituslug on first glance; however, closer investigation reveals each isomer to be like a miniature lituslug, with each of its own isomers also being like miniature lituslugs until one reaches the point where each is only a single cell. They form a temporary muscular and nervous system and coordinate movements to move to a new location before breaking apart into individual cells once again.

Litusgrexes can be found globally as long as there is water and metal available. Some species specialize in specific metals, while others are more generalized, depending on what is available to them. In environments with less metal available, they will focus more on detritivory, but no species has fully lost the need to feed on metal. Polar species generally have slow metabolisms, and volcanic species can be highly prolific. Most species are difficult if not impossible to distinguish in their cell form, but the maximum number of isomers in a grex is consistent in a single species.