Blister Oolapu

 | Feature | Details | | :--- | :--- | | **Type** | Anchored | | **Category** | Unknown | | **Biome** | Overgrown Ruins | | **Attitude** | Passive | | **Scan Tool** | Bioscanner |   ![Blister Oolapu](Blister Oolapu.png)   A **Blister Oolapu** is a form of Anchored Life.   ## Appearance  -*Section requires expansion.*+The blister oolapu is anchored to the ground and has a bowl shape.  +Inside this bowl, which is a vibrant orange, there is a beak at the very middle bottom, which is black and split into 6 parts.+ +As you go up the blister oolapu, the bowl splits into structures that resemble the branching and curving of fire. You can see holes in these structures, where they diverge and converge into one again.+ +Their bases are blue, as is the rim of the bowl, but the actual fire-like structures are a dull maroon. The bowl is also textured with many thin streaks that also resemble fire, sort of like a popped blister.+  ## Databank Entry   **Oolapu blister**, index species of a newly discovered clade resembling Earth's crinoids (sea lilies and feather stars). Challenging to categorize.  -### 1. What is this?-At first scan, baffling. The central beak suggests an anchored cephalopod, like the mimic pylon. The bell structure resembles a stalked jelly such as the necrolei, and the fringe growths are kelp-like. The anchoring holdfast resembles the cradle shootroot's.+1. **What is this?**+   At first scan, baffling. The central beak suggests an anchored cephalopod, like the mimic pylon. The bell structure resembles a stalked jelly such as the necrolei, and the fringe growths are kelp-like. The anchoring holdfast resembles the cradle shootroot's.  -### 2. Life cycle-The blister oolapu begins life as a five-limbed larva. These limbs stitch together into a closed sac, and the juvenile oolapu feeds by contracting this sac to pump water. As it matures, the blister oolapu develops a sharp beak, and its limbs separate again.+2. **Life cycle**+   The blister oolapu begins life as a five-limbed larva. These limbs stitch together into a closed sac, and the juvenile oolapu feeds by contracting this sac to pump water. As it matures, the blister oolapu develops a sharp beak, and its limbs separate again.  -### 3. Possible symbiotic partner-The adult blister oolapu may depend on other organisms to drop hard, indigestible food into its gullet. It uses its jaw to grind this refuse into nutrients, excreting the remainder as fertilizer into the water. This feeding strategy is roughly the inverse of the cabbage shootroot's.+3. **Possible symbiotic partner**+   The adult blister oolapu may depend on other organisms to drop hard, indigestible food into its gullet. It uses its jaw to grind this refuse into nutrients, excreting the remainder as fertilizer into the water. This feeding strategy is roughly the inverse of the cabbage shootroot's.  -### 4. Social organism-The blister oolapu expresses a circular nerve cord, and its chemical signals appear to respond to individual organisms it 'knows'.+4. **Social organism**+   The blister oolapu expresses a circular nerve cord, and its chemical signals appear to respond to individual organisms it 'knows'.   **Assessment:** probably a recycler or detritovore feeding on remains too tough for other organisms to eat. It is growing more difficult to find consistent Earth analogs for Protean life.   *Source: Scan a Blister Oolapu*   ## Gallery   ![A Blister Oolapu viewed from the top.](Unscannable Trench-Observatory Island 1.png) *A Blister Oolapu viewed from the top.*   ![A Blister Oolapu from the side.](Unscannable Trench-Observatory Island 2.png) *A Blister Oolapu from the side.*   ![Bioluminescence at night.](Unscannable Trench-Observatory Island 3.png) *Bioluminescence at night.*