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Submitted: June 21, 2011
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Gas Giant: Boukalizoans 2by ~NocturnalSea

Traditional Art / Drawings / Animals

Go here for the first part of this: [link]
E. Blue-thorned Anchorhead Ancoricephalus caerulicuspis
Anchorheads are parasites that blow about freely in the strong storms swirling over the gas giant. They remain dormant for most of their lives until the wind blows them into a larger animal (often a sky-whale surfacing from the deep atmosphere). Once contact is made, the anchorhead burrows into its host’s flesh with its long, needle-like spines and proceeds to feed on its victim’s juices with a long, hollow tongue.

F. Red-eyed Bottle-ghost Albidumbra diaboloculus
Another aggressive hunter of the plankton. Like corpseflowers, bottle-ghosts trap their prey in their massive crop and digest them alive with regurgitated stomach acids.

G. Emerald Bottle-ghost Viridampulla venaphorus
Like the hookgourds and tanglegourds, this creature gets most of its nutrition from symbiotic “bacteria” living in its skin. In the emerald bottle-ghost’s case, however, these bacteria utilize a variant of chlorophyll to fix light.

H. Red-tailed Snotflower Torticrinis floricauda
The long, thread-like labria of this group are covered with a thin layer of mucous that traps passing animals.

I. Sundrinker Lumenabibitor purpureus
A “plant” of the gas giant atmosphere. The sundrinker’s eyes have evolved into purely photosynthetic organs utilizing retinal inside a rhodopsin-like molecule to capture light. They number of eyes has also multiplied until they almost completely cover the animal’s body.

~palaeorigamipete Jan 29, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

They all look awesome, but I don't think there is life on gas giants. Maybe I am wrong, but no liquid water, extreme gravity, harsh atmospheric conditions... If there is something, it's microbes or bacteria or things like that.

~NocturnalSea Jan 29, 2012 Professional Traditional Artist

Oh yes, it would be extremely hard for life to exist in the atmosphere of a gas giant. I'm working with some other speculative biology fans to figure out how such an ecosystem would work. Liquid water, by the way, is indirectly supplied by creatures that make regular trips to the planet's ring to harvest ice.

~palaeorigamipete Jan 29, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

Ah, I'll be waiting for more then! =o)

~AmnioticOef Jun 23, 2011

YES, I've been waiting for some xenobiology from you! The eye-photosynthesizers are my favorite, and go to show how a little research can open up entire new areas of speculation.

~NocturnalSea Jun 23, 2011 Professional Traditional Artist

I originally got the idea for the eye-photosynthesizers from the "Purple-Earth" hypothesis, which postulates that early photosynthetic life may have been primarily retinal-rhodopsin based instead of chlorophyl.

And don't worry-- now that the gates are open, there's plenty more xenobiology where that came from. I plan on continuing my own version of these Gas-giant organims after this project is over. I've got lots of ideas in my sketchbook.

~scythemantis Jun 21, 2011 Hobbyist General Artist

I love the red-tailed Snotflower, such a logical way of trapping food in a gaseous world

~NocturnalSea Jun 21, 2011 Professional Traditional Artist

thanks. Snotflower's such a great word. I didn't even realize that was the common name for Osedax worms until after I made this

~GreatMarahute Jun 21, 2011 Hobbyist Digital Artist

looks like plankton

~NocturnalSea Jun 21, 2011 Professional Traditional Artist

Precisley. They're the air-borne plankton of a gas giant world similar to Jupiter. Part 1 explains the premise in more depth.

~farfinmosker Jun 21, 2011

They're so pretty!

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