Zorgi Vandal
| Zorgi Vandal | |
|---|---|
| Base Information | |
| Classification | Heterotrophic Consumer Siren |
| Terrain | Ocean Floor/Abyssal Plains |
| Locomotion | Free Swimming |
| Size | (5m length 0.9m diameter) / (400.0 kg) |
| Speed | Typical Swimming Speed 1 |
| Strength | Typical Hits to wound/kill 15/6 |
| Social Structure | Solitary |
| Weapons | +2D claws+1, teeth+1 |
| Armor | None, Attack 0 Flee 4 |
| Source | |
| Homeworld | Zie'be/Ratatta (Astron 1307) |
| Multi-world | No |
| Canon | No |
| Extinct | Extant |
| Reference | Ronald B. Kline, Jr. |
| Zie'be Animal Encounter Tables | |
The Zorgi Vandal is a creature lifeform that is not a sophont.
- It can be found on the Zie'be Animal Encounter Tables and is part of the typical aquatic ecosystems. A native of a barren world called Zie'be (world), survey classification number X868000-0.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
These are solitary creatures to prowl at the limits of distinctive thermoclines. Zie'be is a tectonically active world. The mid ocean ridges have extensive hydrothermal vent systems. These support complex communities of organism which rely on chemosynthetic food chains and never see the light of the orange star. They are about 5m long and tubular, from the five spiny armed tentacles at the anterior end to the anal pore.
Eighty percent of the planet is covered in oceans. This species is found on the ocean floor on the abyssal plains under crushing pressures at 4 degrees C. They stay within 100m of the ocean floor at all times. They lure prey from the periphery of hydrothermal vent communities. The vent water is too hot for them to survive. They are not adapted for that. They must lure their prey into a benthic regime which they can tolerate and dominate. Competition for scant resources is intense.
Zorgi Vandal 1 Siren 400kg 15/6 none +2D claws+1, teeth+1 A0F4S1
Physiology & Ecology[edit]
Examples of this reclusive species are found lurking in a radius from mid ocean ridges where hydrothermal vents are prevalent. They use a combination of lures to attract prey. They have long, sticky strands that they can evert from the terminus of their simplistic alimentary channel. These collect detritus raining down from above. The filaments become coated with nutrient laden wastes from organisms in the photic zones within a few hundred meters of the surface. These filaments are olfactory beacons to chemical sensors on their prey items. They also use the flashing bioluminescent red lights to draw targets within range. These lights mimic the breeding signals of several species of prey items. They lie in wait, covered in thick layers of mud from the ocean floor. Only the delicious filaments, coated in nutrients wave gently swaying in the currents. When prey comes to investigate their anterior buccal cavity is lined with multiple rings of serrated teeth. These teeth are calcareous, as are the ossicles of the jaw and dermis. The vascular system is open and crude. The claws are a set of five tentacle mounted barbs which are used to pierce and hold prey items. The tentacles mounted spines maneuver food items toward the rasping teeth which grind off layers of flesh. The fleshy papilla and soft mouth parts form a suction seal as the spiral moving teeth slice deeper into the prey. The initial spined tentacle strike and grab is lighting quick. The auger, drill bit mouth parts move more slowly. Once firmly attached the prey tend to be devoured alive. The death struggles, and messy particulates in the water column from the prey items also lures more scavengers. This has been known to cause others to fall victim to the same siren's trap. The death toll can add up.
Life Cycle & Reproduction[edit]
The Zorgi Vandals are crudely hermaphroditic. They experience external spawning fertilization. They have a single gender with three different types of gonads. Adult Vandals release three different kinds of haploid reproductive cells into the water column. Fully grown adults spray these cells from ducted reservoirs buried deep in the body cavity. They are ejected by powerful muscular contractile forces. Two events can trigger the release of these cells. If two members of the species chemically detect one another within 500m, they launch cells. When they die, cells are released. Each type of cell carries a third of the complete Vandal genome. These cells are microscopic and function like zooplankton. Should any two cells from different members of the same species meet up they fuse and trigger fertilization and start cell division. These cells are chemosynthetic extremophiles and live near the vents and are an essential component of the chemosynthetic producer levels of the food web and energy pyramid. In the eventuality that all three types of cells should ever be reunited another stage in development is initiated. These genetically complete triads flee the hot hydrothermal vents and seek out the colder water, just at the edge of the thermal gradient. They lose their thermal resistant properties. The more complex protein synthesis production require lower operating temperatures.
Diet & Trophics[edit]
The adults are slow growing and are elusive and solitary. They are poikilothermic and heterotrophic consumers. They are crudely bilateral and have a multi-layered smooth black epidermis. They are invertebrate and use hydrostatic pressure to maintain body turgor. Periodically across their dorsal surfaces, thick knobs and projections terminate in vivid bioluminescent red spots. They are coated in tactile sensor papillae. They swim with a lateral undulation of the body. They seem to slither through the water. They are not very fast. Once they are triggered by sensory stimuli the are reluctant to relinquish their prey. Determined and burdened with a simple neurological system, they are slow to respond and this makes them unlikely to flee encounters. They rely on their bulk to dissuade predators. They movements are languid as their metabolism is extremely slow paced. They have a few natural predators but can live an extraordinarily long time.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
This species was catalogued by accident when a survey drone crashed during a storm. It sank into a very deep area of the ocean called the Zorgi Basin. The probe continued to log data as it descended. Its flashing marker lights attracted one of these creatures which mistook the 200kg drone for a prey item. It latched on and refused to relinquish its prize. The survey team cursed it as a vandal for the destruction of survey property. The nomenclature stuck.
Derived Products (Goods)[edit]
These organisms have no economical nor commercial uses as yet. It may have some medicinal properties.
Travellers' Aid Society Advisory[edit]
The Travellers' Aid Society (TAS) classifies the Zorgi Vandal as mostly harmless to most sophonts and makes no special advisory aside from some simple conservation minded pamphlets and limited research data.
Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)[edit]
This creature can primarily be found in the following areas:
Homeworld: 1105[edit]
The homeworld of this creature is:
World Listing: 1105[edit]
Significant communities of this creature are known to be found within the following systems and worlds: Zie'be (world)
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis), Captain, and Lead Naval Architect Ronald B. Kline, Jr. of the Imperial Navy