Gobbobopod

The gobbobopod is a common sight in the Leopard Temperate Woodland. During the spring and fall they are active in the early morning and evening hours, and during the summer they are active from dusk until dawn. While resting, they retreat under the roots and low branches of the crystal fortresses for protection from the elements. Unlike their relative, the goblati, they have evolved to travel mouth-down while on land. To better facilitate this their second, now upper, ring of legs are much longer and their body is much wider where they attach. Their skin is thicker than that of the gobbob and they have a transparent membrane covering their pinhole eyes which helps retain water. The body also now extends significantly behind the end of the stomach. A quartet of simple intestinal tubes arc up from the top of the stomach and descend to attach to the waste vents located above each upper leg. Although most digestion takes place in the stomach, most nutrient absorption takes place in these intestines. The thin, moist membrane inside the waste vents also helps to facilitate gas exchange. Gonads are attached to the ends of the intestines, and both clones and gametes are expelled through the waste vents.

Their mouths are mounted on a short trunk which is attached to a ring of cartilage-like tissue at its base. The lips likewise have four stiffened segments studded with small deposits of strontium compounds which helps them “gum” rotting food to tear off small portions. Peristalsis pulls food up the trunk and through a sphincter into the stomach.

The gobbobopod's skeleton is somewhat more extensive than the gobbob's. A second set of cartilage-like shelves above the first pair of legs form a “bowl” which supports the stomach. They still have a ring of cartilage in front of the first pair of legs, which anchors the trunk. The muscles at bases of the legs are attached to both this ring and the “bowl”, providing them with more leverage then the gobbob's legs do.

The gobbobopod has multiple options for moving. Their limbs are expanded and contracted hydraulically with most of the muscles being concentrated in the base. They can either walk with all eight legs or move in a vaguely inchworm-like fashion by first retracting the four inner legs, swinging the lower body in the direction they want to move while re-extending the inner legs. Once they put the inner legs down they retract the upper quartet, bring the upper body in line with the lower and re-extend the outer legs. The tail is mostly used for balance and to right themselves if they fall over.

Spawning takes place into the freshwater streams of the Leopard watershed. For most of the year they reproduce by releasing larval clones but during the fall lower temperatures lead to them spawning instead. Fertilized eggs do not hatch immediately; they lay dormant over the winter. The adults are also able to lay dormant during the winter, but they have a high mortality rate. Clone larva are larger when released (0.4 mm) and developed to adulthood faster than sexually produced larva.