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Description

Vatanzee

(Callidocancer spp)

In the cities of Neindo II you may sometimes hear sound, strange sounds , often similar to those of the harmless creatures of the city, but sometimes things aren't what they seem to be.

The so called vatanzee are a genus of urban predators, originating in Haliulg, but having evolved independently in Neindo II and later spreading to several other urban worlds, by hitching rides on large spaceships.

Vatanzees resemble large spiders up to the size of a hound. They have 6 legs and a pair of large clawed arms, which are used for grabbing prey and in mating. Their mouths are made by three jaws, the two lower ones resembling a snakes' split lower jaw, while the upper one resembles a barn owls' beak. The inside of the mouth is filled with hundreds of small, thorn-like teeth, which are used for chopping prey into smaller peaces. Their elastic skull allows their jaws to open wide enough to swallow a whole cows' head, though most of time they feed one small creatures, which they swallow whole.

The Vatanzees' legs end in sucker pads, that stick well to flat surfaces, which allows them to climb some of the tallest buildings. They also have a retractable claw hiding in each of the sucker pads, helping them move in certain surfaces and quite helpful when walking on the ground and sometimes hunting.

Vatanzees have three eyes standing on short stalks, which unlike human eyes, can sense up to 16 distinct colors and their combinations, similarly to the mantis shrimps of Earth. This helps them distinguish the prey even at night and seemingly pitch darkness, since the variety of colors makes the prey more distinguishable. They also have a highly developed sense of smell, which allows them to communicate through odors amongst other things. Their skin can change color, though not as much in adults, who are covered in a short, transparent form of integument used for insulation.

Vatanzees have great vocal abilities, but they don't use them for communication. Instead they mimic the sounds of their prey, slowly attracting it, until within the reach of being killed. Most of them just mimic the sounds of small creature, no bigger than a rat, but some individuals have been known to attack and even eat humans and other sophonts. Those are rare cases though, as most vatanzees prefer smaller prey and when confronted will probably run away, using violence only as a last mean of defence. They are very sly and cryptic creatures, which has allowed them to remain rarely seen in one of the most crowded environments and thus few people have ever seen one.

Living in a habitat with a rather stable climate, vatanzees breed year round. Mating is rather violent and during it the male and female lock claws as they tumble around in allies or sewers. After impregnating the female, the male goes on his own way, probably never to see the female again. This is where things get truly weird though. The female isn’t really the one to get pregnant, nor is the male, but instead the females’ genitalia itself. After mating a small bug-like creature emerges from the females’ abdomen. It’s the genitalia, which in vatanzees it is a living creature of its’ own, having its’ own life support systems and a small brain, hardwired to lay the eggs in a safe place. The genitalia is actually a strange form of conjoined twin and a pregnant mother produces several of them with each female, thus making the genitalia a third gender as it’s part of the same species, though pretty different. After developing outside of the unborn female, still in a really early stage, the genitalia enter her body and lay dormant, being kept alive by her. After losing one genitalia, another one grows to take its’ place and the female can mate again after about 3 weeks.

The vatanzees eggs can’t survive in land and are laid in water, usually in fountains or sewers, sometimes even in personal aquariums and after releasing the eggs, the genitalia will walk a short distance to place where it can die (the genitalia have no mouths and can only survive a few days outside of the female, feeding on a the “fat” reserves in their back) .

The larvae, which resemble velvet worms can change their color quite well, probably as well as the cephalopods of Earth, which allows them to hid in house aquariums and other, more natural habitats (I guess massive sewers are more natural than aquariums). In a few days they will grow from less than 1 cm to 4 cm and it is then, that they gain the ability to breathe air and move more easily on land, where they will hunt for a few weeks, until they reach 10 cm of length. Then they will metamorphose inside a cocoon for a few weeks and then emerge as smaller versions of their parents. They reach sexual maturity at the age of 3, when they’re about the size of a cat and may live up to 30 years.

The genus Callidocaris first evolved about 7 mya and now have spread to several other urban planets and one of such was Hatn’xia V, whichs’ civilization was destroyed 4 mya by causes that remain unknown. Its’ coordinates having been lost, the planet has been lost too, though some spaceships claim to have seen the planet and some even to have landed on it. The crews spoke of strange spider-like people that had primitive civilizations of their own as advanced as the Roman empire of Earth. Seeing how vatanzees are highly intelligent creature, sometimes even compared to parrots, the idea is not so absurd. Though this are still just stories, stories which some believe and some don’t.

Description

Vatanzee

(Callidocancer spp)

In the cities of Neindo II you may sometimes hear sound, strange sounds , often similar to those of the harmless creatures of the city, but sometimes things aren't what they seem to be.

The so called vatanzee are a genus of urban predators, originating in Haliulg, but having evolved independently in Neindo II and later spreading to several other urban worlds, by hitching rides on large spaceships.

Vatanzees resemble large spiders up to the size of a hound. They have 6 legs and a pair of large clawed arms, which are used for grabbing prey and in mating. Their mouths are made by three jaws, the two lower ones resembling a snakes' split lower jaw, while the upper one resembles a barn owls' beak. The inside of the mouth is filled with hundreds of small, thorn-like teeth, which are used for chopping prey into smaller peaces. Their elastic skull allows their jaws to open wide enough to swallow a whole cows' head, though most of time they feed one small creatures, which they swallow whole.

The Vatanzees' legs end in sucker pads, that stick well to flat surfaces, which allows them to climb some of the tallest buildings. They also have a retractable claw hiding in each of the sucker pads, helping them move in certain surfaces and quite helpful when walking on the ground and sometimes hunting.

Vatanzees have three eyes standing on short stalks, which unlike human eyes, can sense up to 16 distinct colors and their combinations, similarly to the mantis shrimps of Earth. This helps them distinguish the prey even at night and seemingly pitch darkness, since the variety of colors makes the prey more distinguishable. They also have a highly developed sense of smell, which allows them to communicate through odors amongst other things. Their skin can change color, though not as much in adults, who are covered in a short, transparent form of integument used for insulation.

Vatanzees have great vocal abilities, but they don't use them for communication. Instead they mimic the sounds of their prey, slowly attracting it, until within the reach of being killed. Most of them just mimic the sounds of small creature, no bigger than a rat, but some individuals have been known to attack and even eat humans and other sophonts. Those are rare cases though, as most vatanzees prefer smaller prey and when confronted will probably run away, using violence only as a last mean of defence. They are very sly and cryptic creatures, which has allowed them to remain rarely seen in one of the most crowded environments and thus few people have ever seen one.

Living in a habitat with a rather stable climate, vatanzees breed year round. Mating is rather violent and during it the male and female lock claws as they tumble around in allies or sewers. After impregnating the female, the male goes on his own way, probably never to see the female again. This is where things get truly weird though. The female isn’t really the one to get pregnant, nor is the male, but instead the females’ genitalia itself. After mating a small bug-like creature emerges from the females’ abdomen. It’s the genitalia, which in vatanzees it is a living creature of its’ own, having its’ own life support systems and a small brain, hardwired to lay the eggs in a safe place. The genitalia is actually a strange form of conjoined twin and a pregnant mother produces several of them with each female, thus making the genitalia a third gender as it’s part of the same species, though pretty different. After developing outside of the unborn female, still in a really early stage, the genitalia enter her body and lay dormant, being kept alive by her. After losing one genitalia, another one grows to take its’ place and the female can mate again after about 3 weeks.

The vatanzees eggs can’t survive in land and are laid in water, usually in fountains or sewers, sometimes even in personal aquariums and after releasing the eggs, the genitalia will walk a short distance to place where it can die (the genitalia have no mouths and can only survive a few days outside of the female, feeding on a the “fat” reserves in their back) .

The larvae, which resemble velvet worms can change their color quite well, probably as well as the cephalopods of Earth, which allows them to hid in house aquariums and other, more natural habitats (I guess massive sewers are more natural than aquariums). In a few days they will grow from less than 1 cm to 4 cm and it is then, that they gain the ability to breathe air and move more easily on land, where they will hunt for a few weeks, until they reach 10 cm of length. Then they will metamorphose inside a cocoon for a few weeks and then emerge as smaller versions of their parents. They reach sexual maturity at the age of 3, when they’re about the size of a cat and may live up to 30 years.

The genus Callidocaris first evolved about 7 mya and now have spread to several other urban planets and one of such was Hatn’xia V, whichs’ civilization was destroyed 4 mya by causes that remain unknown. Its’ coordinates having been lost, the planet has been lost too, though some spaceships claim to have seen the planet and some even to have landed on it. The crews spoke of strange spider-like people that had primitive civilizations of their own as advanced as the Roman empire of Earth. Seeing how vatanzees are highly intelligent creature, sometimes even compared to parrots, the idea is not so absurd. Though this are still just stories, stories which some believe and some don’t.