Cabbage Shootroot

 | Feature | Details | | :--- | :--- | | **Species** | Shootroot cabbage | | **Attitude** | Passive | | **Type** | Anchored | | **Category** | Starfish |-| **Biome** | Plateaus, Shallows |+| **Biomes** | Plateaus, Shallows |   ![Cabbage Shootroot](Cabbage Shootroot.png)   The **Cabbage Shootroot** is an anchored lifeform that lives in a symbiotic relationship with the [Aeroshell Sponge](Aeroshell_Sponge).   ## Appearance   The Cabbage Shootroot appears purple and has a similar form to a mushroom. On top of the arms is the pink dotted center which holds the mouth.   ## Databank Entry  -**Source:** Scan a Cabbage Shootroot+> **Shootroot cabbage**. A robust bottom-dwelling organism anatomically similar to a plastic starfish, or to an opened variety of Earth's extinct blastoids.+>+> **1. Animal anatomy**+>+> The cabbage shootroot's upward-facing mouth is surrounded by outstretched arms. These arms are hard, tightly grouped, partly calcified, and covered in a tough biopolymer characteristic of other shootroots (tentative name: polyproteovinyl). These arms produce the cabbage-leaf texture that gives the shootroot its name.+>+> **2. Seabed burrowing**+>+> A second set of arms uses ribbons of the same tough biopolymer to dig into the seabed, stirring up sediment and expanding cracks in rock. This is a difficult and metabolically expensive process, but it is a niche with little competition.+>+> **3. Symbiote kiss**+>+> The cabbage shootroot does not use its mouth to eat, or its hard leaflike arms to feed. These surfaces seem to be reserved for a symbiotic partner. The cabbage shootroot uses its mouth to transfer nutrients gathered by its roots to the symbiote, and to receive a trickle of food or chemistry in exchange.+>+> **4. Circular nerve cord**+>+> Like all shootroots, the cabbage shootroot is notable for its expression of a circular nerve cord.+>+> **Assessment:** do not sit. You may receive nutrients.  -*Shootroot cabbage*. A robust bottom-dwelling organism anatomically similar to a plastic starfish, or to an opened variety of Earth's extinct blastoids.+*Source: Scan a Cabbage Shootroot*  -### 1. Animal anatomy- -The cabbage shootroot's upward-facing mouth is surrounded by outstretched arms. These arms are hard, tightly grouped, partly calcified, and covered in a tough biopolymer characteristic of other shootroots (tentative name: polyproteovinyl). These arms produce the cabbage-leaf texture that gives the shootroot its name.- -### 2. Seabed burrowing- -A second set of arms uses ribbons of the same tough biopolymer to dig into the seabed, stirring up sediment and expanding cracks in rock. This is a difficult and metabolically expensive process, but it is a niche with little competition.- -### 3. Symbiote kiss- -The cabbage shootroot does not use its mouth to eat, or its hard leaflike arms to feed. These surfaces seem to be reserved for a symbiotic partner. The cabbage shootroot uses its mouth to transfer nutrients gathered by its roots to the symbiote, and to receive a trickle of food or chemistry in exchange.- -### 4. Circular nerve cord- -Like all shootroots, the cabbage shootroot is notable for its expression of a circular nerve cord.- -**Assessment:** do not sit. You may receive nutrients.-  ## Gallery  -![Cabbage Shootroot with its symbiote in daylight hours](Cabbage Shootroot day.png)-*Cabbage Shootroot with its symbiote in daylight hours*+![Cabbage Shootroot with an Aeroshell Sponge symbiote.](Cabbage Shootroot day.png)+*Cabbage Shootroot with an [Aeroshell Sponge](Aeroshell_Sponge) symbiote.*  -![The Aeroshell Sponge symbiote provides ample light at night](Cabbage Shootroot Night.png)-*The Aeroshell Sponge symbiote provides ample light at night*+![Bioluminescence at night.](Cabbage Shootroot Night.png)+*Bioluminescence at night.*  -![This specimen does not have a symbiote and may be a juvenile](Cabage Shootroot Immature .png)-*This specimen does not have a symbiote and may be a juvenile*+![A Cabbage Shootrot without a symbiote.](Cabage Shootroot Immature .png)+*A Cabbage Shootrot without a symbiote.*  -![A pale shootroot variant seen in Silver Mines](Cabbage Shootroot Silver Mines.png)-*A pale shootroot variant seen in [Silver Mines](Silver_Mines)*+![A pale Cabbage Shootroot variant seen in the Silver Mines.](Cabbage Shootroot Silver Mines.png)+*A pale Cabbage Shootroot variant seen in the [Silver Mines](Silver_Mines).*