Hɔlin ɹɪbɐkə

The hɔlin ɹɪbɐkə is a genus of kelp which grows in coastal inlets. It has one primary and one secondary inhabitant. The θɛlɔno ɹɐkɪsɪs and the ʍɑʃona kahɑzɑ respectively.

hɔlin ɹɪbɐkə (Rattle Kelp)
The hɔlin ɹɪbɐkə is a genus of kelp which grows in coastal inlets. The blades are gently pointed at the tips and long, occasionally up to 5 ðɛmɪ in length. The blades are arranged in whorls along the stem, each whorl consisting of three blades joined to the stem in a sheath.

The flowers grow in large cone inflorescences, with several hundred flowers per cone. These inflorescences are arranged in groups of three just below the base of each foliate whorl. However, only around 1012% of the flowers are viable. Each flower consists of a single perianth whorl of six fused petals, the corolla tube narrows towards the tip, before flaring out in a star shape, with each petal tip sharply pointed. The style is at least twice the length of the corolla tube, and the stigma glows brightly. Non-viable flowers are white or pale blue, and the stigma glows a bright pale blue when open.

Viable flowers are bright green, with a similarly coloured stigma. The whole inflorescence matures over the course of around 1312 days, with flowers nearer the tip maturing last.

The seed pod (a woody fruit) develops inside the inflorescence. Each of the viable flowers allows the production of a single seed. As the seed pod grows, the remaining structure of the inflorescence cracks and falls away. The outer coating of the pod is toxic while the pod is maturing. The seeds grow and mature on a central column, and the remainder of the ovular pod is full of air. When the pod is fully mature, the seeds loosen in the pod and rattle around. The pods themselves break off from the kelp and float up to the surface, usually cracking open from the sudden pressure change.

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θɛlɔno ɹɐkɪsɪs (Weevil Fish)
The θɛlɔno ɹɐkɪsɪs is a genus of fish which lives in conjunction to the hɔlin ɹɪbɐkə. The fish is robust, with minute lateral flattening. The mouth is terminal, forming a beak on the end of a long and narrow snout. The first dorsal fin consists of 4 spines, and the second of six rays. The pectoral fin has a single spine followed by six rays, the ventral fin has a single spine followed by three rays, the anal fin has three rays, and the caudal fin has B rays, as well as a single spine on each of the cranial ends.

The eggs are tiny and typically a shade of bright red, the larvae are cryptic to the kelp, usually bright pink and mottled in pattern. The adults are similar, but the fins in the mature form are mostly white, with a bar of lime green close to the body, and a thick black line along the edge of each fin. The caudal fin is also patterned with a series of black lines. The pattern of the body of a mature fish tends to be more contrasting and less ‘blurry’ than the juvenile.

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ʍɑʃona kahɑzɑ (Trapdoor Snake)
The ʍɑʃona kahɑzɑ is a fish genus which can be accurately described as a delightful mix between a polychete worm and a moray eel. It is an ambush predator, digging out tunnels in the sediment of coastal inlets, which are lined in a hardened mucous secretion to prevent collapse in the fine ash-mud bed.

At rest, the kahɑzɑ sits in its tunnel with its cranial shield entirely blocking the exit. The shield is a variety of shapes, depending on the species, but is typically triangular or hexagonal in shape, sometimes radially symmetrical, or longer and thinner towards the front of the body. The kahɑzɑ has three retractable eyestalks, tipped in many compound eye-cells. The stalks are also lined with electrosensitive cilia.

When a suitable prey item is within range, the cranial shield swings out to allow the mouth to extend, while the whole fish lunges forward. The extendable jaw, opening to several times larger than the cross-sectional area of the body, creates suction when opened. The prey, if caught, is held by three hooked teeth on the top jaw, and the two, also hooked, teeth which are attached to the two tips of the lower jaw.

The fish also possesses pharyngeal jaws, consisting of a row of sharp hooks to collect the prey from the mouth, followed by several crushing plates to quickly kill the prey before its thrashing can damage the kahɑzɑ.

While the ʍɑʃona kahɑzɑ can grow to enormous size if given enough time (through indeterminate growth), maturity is reached at around 1112 ðɛmɪ in length.

The larval form is pelagic, and strong swimmers. They are visually very different from their mature forms, lacking a cranial shield and developed jaws. Their underdeveloped jaws are primarily locomotive in usage. Water is sucked in the mouth slit, and rapidly expelled through two slits posterior and dorsal to the rear eye-stalks. This, combined with an extended lateral fin, fuzed with the caudal fin, leads to speedy juveniles.

The jaws fully develop at around 0.112 ðɛmɪ, and the cranial shield is solidified at around 0.812 ðɛmɪ.

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Interactions:
The ʍɑʃona kahɑzɑ is a type III genus, as a broadcast spawner. In a single spawn, a single fish can release millions of microscopic eggs, with increasing egg numbers with increasing size. The eggs and smaller larvae form an important food source for filter-feeding organisms, and the larger larvae are regularly predated.

The larvae initially feed on small fragments of organic matter which are captured though non-burst locomotion. When the jaws fully develop, they become active hunters and consume smaller larvae, including those of their own species. They continue to consume small fragments of organic matter. Once the cranial shield is solidified, it becomes a sub-adult and migrates to the benthic zone to become an ambush predator. Their tunnels form important gaps in the root systems of the kelp and allow other species to establish, as well as releasing nutrients from the sediment into the surrounding water. Foraging animals which dig for the fish in their tunnels also aid this effort.

The θɛlɔno ɹɐkɪsɪs is another type III genus, although it lays its eggs in the hundreds directly onto the midrib of the hɔlin ɹɪbɐkə blades. The parent fish will defend a particular clump of the kelp, in which it lays its eggs and feeds. The larvae remain in the clump, somewhat protected through camouflage and through the parent’s territorial nature pertaining to its clump, if not directly protecting its offspring. Even so, the vast majority do not survive to be chased off by the parent once they reach maturity.

The newly matured fish then migrate to the clumps nearer the centre of the kelp patch, which are tightly packed, allowing only the smaller fish. These parts of the kelp forest are filled with recently matured fish, and there are no clear boundaries of territories. Floral cones are fought over when they occasionally bloom, but the primary part of their diet are the blades and stems of the kelp. As the kelp is eaten away, it allows for other plant species to establish. The diet of established ɹɐkɪsɪs is primarily the highly nutritious non-viable (and non toxic) flowers of the hɔlin ɹɪbɐkə, with minor parts made up of the fruit, flowers, and leaves of herbaceous species that grow on the sediment between kelp stems. Larger territories with large numbers of kelp stems, but also open space are valued, and highly contested. Fights between the θɛlɔno ɹɐkɪsɪs rarely end in death, but frequently cause injuries. The beak is sharp and removes circular chunks from flesh and fins, and the fins are sharp and can tear fins. Once a fish has established a territory, they are very unlikely to vacate it, even if contested by a larger fish.

Contests typically start with several minutes of posturing, the fish swim facing each other with fins extended, and make short bursts of movement towards the other before slowly backing away. If the established fish is larger, then this is usually enough to scare away the interloper. If the established fish is smaller, or only slightly larger, then these bursts of movement are then accompanied by attempts to get behind the opposing fish to bite their caudal fin, usually resulting in the two fish rapidly circling each other. A smaller and faster fish will typically get more bites in, but a larger fish causes a lot more damage per bite, and larger fish tend to win territorial contests. The territories on the edge of the kelp forest are larger, highly valuable, and can support larger ɹɐkɪsɪs, but also allow access to large predators.