Pelagic Predator Pen Sketch. More On This Soon.

Placid Segmaris

Caelumbestiae placidus

The Placid Segmaris is the sole food source of the Sky Shepherd. They are essentially floating livestock that are nurtured, herded, and protected until such time as the shepherds need to consume them. The tri-part symbiosis between the Sky Shepherds, the Segmaris, and their large floating counterpart (partially visible as the reddish-brown creature on the right side of the image) is rather complicated, and will be the subject of further works. Helpless on their own, the Segmaris relies on its symbionts for neary everything- protection, reproduction, much of their locomotion, and Hydrogen. The only thing it is capable of accomplishing by itself is the acquisition of food- which is does by filtering particles and small microfauna from the dense atmosphere where it lives. Adults are around 50 feet long at maximum, young start out around a foot long.

Here is a nocturnal view of a habitat in which the inhabitants have evolved extreme forms of bioluminescence. The vertical glowing blobs are the reproductive bulb form of a species with a complex life cycle (to be elucidated in following artworks). The groove-backed, ravenous creatures at the bottom are of the same species as the glowing blobs, but at a different life stage. At center is a rather placid, slow-moving consumer of the bulbs- one who has incorporated its own form of bioluminescence into its respiratory apparatus as a means of camouflage. Names and descriptions will come as soon as possible.

The Garden of Unearthly Delights

Biodiversity in Glow Forest Communities

Down on the floor of the Glow Forest, a startling array of lifeforms has evolved in the cool dark mist. The creatures that comprise the main structure of this biome are known as Vela, and they stretch skyward, consuming all the available sunlight and allowing none to escape below. This species won an evolutionary arms race long ago, and as a result its photosynthetic competitors were pushed to extinction. However being a successful monoculture has its disadvantages. Autotrophs form the base of the food chain in most environments, and now the Vela is the only one. This means it is now the main food source for many other species who would otherwise have more choices. Its main nemesis is the Stragulum. This amorphous creeping wrinkled blanket infects a new Vela pseudopod nearly as soon as it touches the ground. It rapidly takes hold and covers every inch of the surface, slowly digesting it. This in turn attracts a cadre of new organisms which consume the flesh of the Stragulum. Predators are then drawn to the area, and as the number of species grows, a self-perpetuating cycle of increasing biodiversity takes place. Eventually, the Stragulum becomes too much of a burden to the Vela and it severs its pseudopod in order to rapidly grow another nearby. But the biomass of the parasite still lingers for quite some time, feeding a plethora of bizarre and unique organisms scrambling for their share of the resources in this oasis of light amidst the darkness.

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Kings of the High Desert

A herd of strange creatures has congregated on this rocky outcrop. Known as Emperor Shinebacks, they often climb these rugged foothills to obtain access to cooling breezes and additional food sources. Their top-heavy tripodal stature prevents further ascension into the mountains, but it serves them well on more level ground. Reflective carapaces mitigate much of the sun’s harmful rays, and cooling flaps along their flanks dissipate excess heat. A shineback’s normal gait is rather clumsy, but when haste is needed they clamp all three legs together into a single monopod and bounce effortlessly across the desert at remarkably high speeds. This combined with their massive size (adults are over eight feet tall) and protective social behavior makes them almost impervious to attack. Almost…

Tripodal Plains Runner

An agile and fast herd-dwelling inhabitor of the open plains, this creature posesses no true jointed appendages. Its legs and periscope are comprised of rigid, yet flexible hydraulic tubes. Sensory organs are clustered on the top of its upward-pointing appendage to give maximum perspective even during more vulnerable moments like feeding.

This is an aerial ecosystem inhabited by floating creatures that utilize gas sacs within their bodies to stay aloft.

This is the native habitat of the megamyriapod (at center). This slow-moving, placid beast is about twenty feet tall and feeds primarily on the purple wave carpet organism that is spread across the floor of this scene- gathering it up with its anterior grasping appendages (at left). Other creatures lurk here, including the greenish motile floating feather duster gourds, the yellow/teal walking platter life-forms, and the purple pilantir balls. Growing around and above these smaller living things are the gargantuan lineated gold air-sponges - the megaflora that constitute the main physical features in this environment. All these creatures obtain energy from a combination of photosynthesis and physical consumption of soil nutrients or living tissue. Basically, the strict division of heterotroph/autotroph (plant/animal) that is exhibited by Earth-life simply does not apply here. Rather there is a gradient between those creatures who gain energy exclusively from light, and those who must consume others to survive. The majority of creatures here utilize both approaches.

Sunworshipper

By our terrestrial standards, the coloration on this creature may seem vivacious or even gaudy, but in its native habitat it actually serves as cryptic camouflage. Its planet orbits a star with different color output than our own, and photosynthetic systems have adapted to reflect a different color than our earthly green plants. The sunworshipper, like many other mobile creatures here, receives a portion of its energy from photosynthesis - as evidenced by the specially-adapted appendages radiating from its body.

Cloud Grazers

Nubes comedenti

A family of Cloud Grazers seeks shelter from strong winds on the leeward side of a sheer rock face several hundred feet above the ground. Thanks to a lightweight body structure and internal hydrogen gas sacs, they are completely neutrally buoyant. Propelled by air jets on their sides, they are most at home at high altitude amongst the cliffs and mountain tops where they can hide from harsh weather and fierce predators. Most of their nutriment is obtained by way of their anterior filtration organs, which they extend while flying to sweep the sky of aerial biota - a sort of sky plankton.