Scaring Up a Meal

In the relatively shallow sea of Kataum, a loose group of Tarshes (Ventrapenna lineruo) uses their ventral fin-plate to rake across the seafloor in order to frighten small animals from their burrows/hiding places. The most common prey here are Planting Kep (Seputus sp.), which sit with their shell embedded in the sand while they filter food particles out of the current. There are also Rutses (Retrambula luculentus) that crawl backward on leg-like fins and use a rearward-aimed proboscis to suck up their herbivorous diet. Disksnails (Orbicalyx sp.) also ooze along the bottom, but are relatively safe from predation due to a bitter chemical deterent they secrete before any potential threat gets close enough to attempt breaking through the shell.