Greater Knightworm

As populations of common knightworms migrated into east Glicker’s temperate and tropical regions, they were forced to adapt to the lower pressures. This ultimately separated the coastal population from the deep-sea populations, leading to the speciation of the greater knightworm. As soon as they entered the coastal region, they were greeted with enormous amounts of food. This allowed them to maintain a larger size. While their spread was initially slowed by the vast plains and reefs of crystal flora, Photosagnia rombusi cleared out much of the flora that was impeding their progress. The vast mats that formed on the sea floor became easy food for the greater knightworm, and were cleared. When new crystal flora grows in the barren sea floor, the greater knightworm will leave the area in search of a new patch of photosagnia-infested sea floor, feeding on colony crystal mycelium along the way. In order to better navigate their environment, their eyes have become larger and more complex, allowing them to make out the shapes of the crystal flora that often impedes their movement. The greater knightworm’s ventral spikes are now separated from the body by a sort of extendable proto-limb. This, along with their antenna-limbs, allows them to better clamber across their rough, spiky environment. Their fourth pair of ventral spikes have been modified into a cloaca, allowing them to copulate when mating. This increases the number of eggs fertilized. Young greater knightworms have one predator: the colony crystal. The enzymes produced by the colony crystal are intense enough to kill and digest very young greater knightworms. Because of this, mating mostly occurs in Photosagnia rombusi patches.