Filterbunnies

The Filterbunnies split from their ancestor and moved to the sediment. As their name suggests, they have external triradial symmetry, as opposed to their ancestor’s 4-point radial symmetry. As is common among Asterzalia, they have modified their intestine-like waste funnel into a true gut and possess a mouth--in this case, the mouth is on the “bottom”, as opposed to the Lagnodactyl mouth which is on the “top”. Their chemoreceptive patches have moved to the end of each arm. Notably, much like their distant relatives the Lagnodactyls, although Filterbunnies are externally radial they are internally bilateral--the “intestine” is only present in the anal arm.

With their new body plan, the Filterbunnies’ arms have to be referred to by different terms. The anal arm is the same, but the other two arms are known as counter-arms. Though visually similar, aside from the presence of an anus and intestine in the anal arm, there are behavioral differences in how these arms are used. The anal arm lays flat on the sediment, the filter baits lining it being used to stabilize it rather than to filter-feed. The counter-arms wave above, catching small organisms. Unlike their ancestor, Filterbunnies do not absorb food directly into their cells. Instead, after a while they run their counter-arms through their mouth to remove the captured organisms, allowing them to consume things much larger than what their ancestor ate using digestive enzymes. To fit this, as the baits can be much longer without losing their function, in some cases the baits on the counter-arms are significantly longer than those on the anal arm for maximum catching ability.

In order to encourage genetic health, Filterbunnies have developed sexual reproduction. They broadcast spawn, releasing gametes from openings next to each filter bait. They make use of pheromones detected with their chemoreceptors to coordinate spawning with others in the area to maximize reproductive success. Their fragmentation ability has also advanced into binary fission; like a Terran flatworm, they can split into 2 new identical individuals, allowing them to repopulate a region quickly if needed. As small fauna, they speciate readily and as such have too many species to individually describe.