>>5428860Merciless selection pressure away from the slightest inefficiency leads to the evolution of a new, distinct competitor species from the Flounder Feeder’s genome. The Stumble Scooper resembles the Flounder Feeder, with two exceptions: its size is unchanged and in lieu of five unrestricted tentacles, they have three connected by two thin cartilage membranes which are used to sift the water for Growth Lumps and Sulfur Clumps that can then be trapped and shuffled into the omnivore’s waiting pincers. Aside from these, there is one fundamental distinction in their primitive psychology.
Where the Flounder Feeders are in a constant hunt for prey and opportunistically scrape vegetation from the stone as suits their empty stomachs, Stumble Scoopers practice the inverse: a never-ending search for lush vegetation, seeking prey when their scent or vibrations are caught. In reality there’s little difference between either strategy at their current intelligence and environmental refinement, but it represents a shift of priorities. The Stumble Scooper population increases at the same rate the Flounder Feeder’s decreases and both regularly attempt to kill each other, to little success, as the pincers of each are too dull and their shells too sturdy or blubber too dense to reliably guarantee fatalities. Both are loosely tied for the position of apex predator.
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