Climbing Knightworm

The climbing knightworm evolved as a result of the continued expansion of genus milesvermis across the coasts of Glicker. Their anatomy has changed little from its ancestor, the southern knightworm, with the exception of its pincer-like legs. These legs arose when southern knightworms first migrated into west Darwin. Individuals that could cling onto the krelp's tether-like stems could access more of the plant than specimens that could not. As a result, the pincer-like legs were selected for. They move by extending their segments forward and clamping down on the stem once they regain contact with it. As a result, they inch up and down the stems of krelp, grazing on them as they move. When travelling on the sea floor, they will simply inch about much like their distant ancestor: the common knightworm.

The climbing knightworm's cloacal apparatus has been drastically altered as well. The male apparatus' claspers are positioned parallel to the legs, while the female apparatus' claspers are positioned perpendicular to the legs. When mating, the two pairs of claspers will couple to form a single, unbroken tube. The mating pair will remain coupled for a few minutes, which gives the gametes time to fuse. When mating is finished, the claspers will open and release the fertilized eggs into the ocean. Unlike their ancestor, they lack a defined life cycle, and will breed whenever they can. However, those living in temperate waters still experience a massive die-off over the winter, with the survivors and migrants from tropical waters repopulating the region in the spring.