Hellmouth (entity)/Species Registry
Speciess
Hellmouth (entity) has 7 Speciess written about so far.
Hellmouth (entity)/IF-23.219
The wandering shrimp is a species seemingly evolved from Triops longicaudatus, the tadpole shrimp. Adult wandering shrimp lay eggs in small divots in the rocks around the Arches. When it rains, these divots fill into ephemeral pools, which provide the environment for the eggs to hatch. While the pool remains, the shrimp feed on other crustacea and insect larvae. Unlike the tadpole shrimp, the wandering shrimp grow a solid carapace which allows them to remain mobile after the pool has dried up, and prevents desiccation. The adult form of the wandering shrimp survives off plant matter and small insects in the dry environment of the Arches, before breeding and laying eggs in further divots. Current research suggests that this species has a lifespan of only one year.
Hellmouth (entity)/IF-34.229
Epipactis figueroa (Subspecies Epipactus figueroa octingenti on a good day), common name Giant Hellmouthborine, is a recently discovered species of orchid from the Hellmouth region of Utah. It appears to have formed a symbiotic relationship with Sunbeams pitcher Elvis Figueroa and his Adapted mychorrizal fungal network. It is fully mycoheterotrophic, relying entirely on the nutrients provided by Figueroa. Despite this, Figueroa describes the relationship as "not parasitic" as he "really likes having nice flowers around, except for the bees". As the bees in Hellmouth are known for the wide variety of horrifying effects their sting can have, his flippancy about the bee-attracting qualities of E. figueroa was particularly noted and admired by this researcher.
Hellmouth (entity)/IF-36.617
The plateau striped whiptail (Aspidoscelis velox) is a species complex of medium-sized lizards. It is found in a variety of habitats across Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Unusually, the Hellmouth subpopulation of plateau striped whiptails has not undergone notable Adaptation. They are an all-female species, reproducing via parthenogenesis.
Plateau striped whiptails have been the subject of popular Hellmouthian literature.
They just want to be tall.Hellmouth (entity)/IF-43.507
Not to be confused with the Giant Scorpion.
The solpion is a scorpioform hellbeast, with morphology (notably its size and coloration) most similar to the Northern Scorpion. Its appearance deviates most appreciably from true scorpions in what would be their cephalothorax; in the solpion this structure is obscured by a miniature sun emblazoned with a humanoid face. The solpion's sun is capable of producing an omnidirectional glow of up to 1,270 lumens per square metre, or approximately 1% of an average Sun's brightness. The solpion's humanoid face is capable of producing upsetting facsimiles of human expression, and also a noise described by hellmouthian ecologists as "a reedy wailing".
Solpions are carrion-eaters, establishing themselves in dark caves and chasms within the Hellmouth. The maintain ambient lighting levels to lure in insects, forming an island of ecological richness in the hellish depths for some months, as the light-attracted insects become an easy source of prey for larger animals. The solpion proceeds to stun and cook these larger protein sources by rapidly increasing the brightness and temperature output of its sun.
Due to the discrepancy in the solpion's energy requirements (i.e. how much prey it could be reasonably expected to find in its habitat versus how much heat and light it emits from its front end), it has been hypothesised that the solpion does not possess its own miniature sun but instead sports some manner of portal which it can control the aperture of.
On its discovery in the year 20XX, it was formally described in Nlature as "just a little guy".Hellmouth (entity)/IF-43.749
Yagsnipes (Gallinago Hellinago) are a heavily Adapted species of bird, descended from the Wilson's snipe. Like the Wilson's and common snipes, the yagsnipe is a wading bird with a highly sensitive, probing beak for sensing prey in mud (or salt). Unlike mundane snipes, yagsnipes survive in the biologically challenging salt-slurry pools of the Potash Ponds Mesa, where an entire ecosystem of Adapted algae, invertebrates, fish, and micro-hellbeasts have established themselves.
Yagsnipes appear to have a supernatural sense for finding submerged or buried prey. Their sensitive beaks have adapted to detect vibrations with a set tempo, including heartbeats or other metabolic processes with a steady rhythm. They are often characterised by ornithologists as of a "belligerent" disposition, as they seem to get distracted by particularly "loud" noises and will stab persistently with their beaks to make the offending organ or machine stop. Potash minnows with their hearts stabbed out and left discarded are a common sign in the Ponds for this very reason, and the predation pressure of yagsnipes has forced many Potash Pond animals to make their metabolisms more arrhythmic.
Yagsnipes exhibit natural variation in the range of tempos they detect and respond to, with about one percent of the population more attuned to longer rhythms on the span of hours rather than seconds or minutes. Individuals that take umbrage at even longer rhythms, like the passage of day and night, are often removed from the wild by Hellmouthian ecologists due to their poor survival chances in the wild, and kept and studied in special aviaries.
Yagsnipes are not normally migratory, but healthy individuals will attempt to do so when population density grows too high. Their chances of survival beyond the Mesa are poor, as they will either attack a much larger animal with a heartbeat or beat themselves to death against a piece of machinery. To prevent these birds from being killed by pumas or starving due to a mangled beak, annual culls are organised by the Hellmouth community. Roast yagsnipe is a cherished seasonal delicacy in Hellmouth, which prospective foodies are strongly reminded to not come to try.Hellmouth (entity)/IF-7412.1
The many-eyed toad (either Anaxyrus oculivector or Bufo oculivector) is a medium-sized species of toad found only in the molten-asphalt ecosystem of the Solarium parking lot. Its overall appearance is bituminous and warty, except for the multitude of eye-shaped nodes on its upperside. These are designed not for vision (for the many-eyed toad is blind like the majority of parking lot species) but to discourage potential predators as it lies motionless on the parking lot surface during the day.
The exact material the nodes are made from is unknown, but its high heat capacity compared to asphalt means the "eyes" take longer to heat up from the sun's rays, but also take longer to cool. Comparative materials testing suggests the material has similarities to kevlar.
After sunset, as the upper layer of the parking lot ecosystem cools and thickens, the toad uses its thoroughly-heated nodules to melt and plough through the tarmac in search for invertebrates. The coal-red glow of the nodes at night give the many-eyed toad its other common name - the "Passenger Toad" - due to its resemblance to the entity occupying the face of Hellmouth Sunbeams veteran Nagomi Nava.Hellmouth (entity)/IF-97.689
The tooth-pecker is a species of woodpecker which appears to have diverged from the Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) after the opening of the Hellmouth. It forages by drilling holes in the Hellmouth's teeth using its powerful beak, where it then stays and feeds from its access to the core of the tooth. During breeding season, it uses these holes as nests, raising its young within the tooth. As many as ten breeding pairs have been observed living in one tooth, and many other species take advantage of the insects attracted by these nests to feed. Residents of Hellmouth enjoy having tooth-peckers take up residence in teeth in their backyard, and many smear meat upon uninhabited teeth in order to encourage a bird to select it as a feeding location.
Create New Species
To create a new Species for Hellmouth (entity), use the Page Creation tool to the right. The IF number needs to be a randomly generated 4 or 5 digit number with a period placed somewhere within, and it cannot match any numbers currently used on this page. We've generated one for you to use, but feel free to use a different number. This will create a subpage under Hellmouth (entity) for inclusion in the main page. Visit Interdimensional Rumor Mill/Guide to read more about how to create a new Species.
