Heartleaf

The Heartleaf is a freshwater rooted leafstar which resides in the rivers and streams of Darwin. It has an animal-like faunal larval stage, but it roots to the sediment as an adult. It is somewhat resistant to desiccation thanks to its cell wall, so those that root after floods don’t dry out and die. Its reproduction is still dependent on water, however. It is highly abundant, and it has some amount of shade tolerance so that adults are not shaded to death by their own offspring.

Like most aquatic leafstars, the Heartleaf is a filter-feeder as a juvenile, absorbing microbes directly into its cells through its roots. Individuals fragmented by predation can grow into new individuals, but most of its reproduction is done with water-borne spores released from the edges of its leaves.