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Description
Cerotain aerial lifeform. The spend their lives coasting across the updraft from great volcanic vents in the planet's surface. Many in particular are either too heavy or have too small a wing surface to traverse elsewhere- Such as it is that they have an incredible memory for their air stream pathways, and most have heat-sensitive organs across their belly to help find the best spots for rising air (A few species can go so far as sense the flow of molten and superheated materials beneath the planet's crust. They can accurately predict when geysers or new vents will occur, giving them somewhat of an edge)

Diet ranges from filter-feeding small worm like organisms that live in the volcanic mineral-clouds to hunting smaller 'sky manta' in the air to carrion feeding to downright just snatching poor sods off the ground and swallowing them whole. The species shown is mainly a filter-feeder, but won't go so far as to ignore prey on the ground if it's near enough a vent so that it can get itself back into the air again.

They mate in the air, the "Males"* using their claws to grapple hold of the "Females" to avoid the females trying to kill them. When the young polyps have developed enough within the female, she sprays them down the sides of a vent as a sort of jelly. They will there grow, feed off the resident vent-fauna and eventually burrow into the side walls to pupate. They emerge fully able to fly- Their first act being to throw themselves off the walls of the vent and into the hot rising air, ascending quickly to a high enough altitude to begin feeding. They will molt continuously as they grow.

HUZZAH ALIENS. Adunno. Most of the flying critters on Cerota are of these ilk.

Species etc, (c) myself.

*Breeding and reproduction has a pretty complicated gender-swapping odd kinda thing going on that is too long possibly to type here. I've text-walled enough! Will gladly explain if anyone's interested though.

Description
Cerotain aerial lifeform. The spend their lives coasting across the updraft from great volcanic vents in the planet's surface. Many in particular are either too heavy or have too small a wing surface to traverse elsewhere- Such as it is that they have an incredible memory for their air stream pathways, and most have heat-sensitive organs across their belly to help find the best spots for rising air (A few species can go so far as sense the flow of molten and superheated materials beneath the planet's crust. They can accurately predict when geysers or new vents will occur, giving them somewhat of an edge)

Diet ranges from filter-feeding small worm like organisms that live in the volcanic mineral-clouds to hunting smaller 'sky manta' in the air to carrion feeding to downright just snatching poor sods off the ground and swallowing them whole. The species shown is mainly a filter-feeder, but won't go so far as to ignore prey on the ground if it's near enough a vent so that it can get itself back into the air again.

They mate in the air, the "Males"* using their claws to grapple hold of the "Females" to avoid the females trying to kill them. When the young polyps have developed enough within the female, she sprays them down the sides of a vent as a sort of jelly. They will there grow, feed off the resident vent-fauna and eventually burrow into the side walls to pupate. They emerge fully able to fly- Their first act being to throw themselves off the walls of the vent and into the hot rising air, ascending quickly to a high enough altitude to begin feeding. They will molt continuously as they grow.

HUZZAH ALIENS. Adunno. Most of the flying critters on Cerota are of these ilk.

Species etc, (c) myself.

*Breeding and reproduction has a pretty complicated gender-swapping odd kinda thing going on that is too long possibly to type here. I've text-walled enough! Will gladly explain if anyone's interested though.