Popover Sporal


A Popover Sporal is a type of sponge found in the Root Canyon.

Appearance

The Popover Sporal is a strange, ground-covering sponge-coral hybrid that is much larger than other sporals and sometimes has protruding parts. The red flowery anchored animals nearby are most likely not part of the Popover Sporal itself.

As of version 1.2, there are only three scannable Popover Sporal instances located in the trench leading to the Karakorum Metal Farms at coordinates: -153098, 421730, -37813.

Databank Entry

Sporal zymes, the leavened sporal. Resembles a popover pastry.

1. Leavener

The popover sporal's coral denizens cultivate a strain of hyphenate algae. (Algae on this world descended from a star-like 'solarian' cell, while all animal life descended from an elongated 'polarian' cell.) Instead of feeding on sunlight, this algae ferments sugars into alcohols, producing carbon dioxide as a waste product.

2. Gas trap

The popover retains its carbon dioxide gas until it reaches critical pressure, when it trickles out through valves into the water column. This dissolved carbon helps grow new generations of plankton.

3. Low oxygen scavenger

The popover thrives in low-oxygen, high-sugar conditions such as those following an algae bloom. While organisms cannot evolve 'to benefit the environment' because evolution lacks long-term planning, the popover sporal does help slow down runaway carbon dioxide buildup in the water and the atmosphere by holding carbon internally.

4. No relationship

Despite frequent gene exchange in the Protean biosphere, the algae in the popover sporal evolved their fermentation method independently from other species. Optogenetic analysis detects alternative fermentation pathways which produce methane or other gases rather than carbon dioxide.

Assessment: ecologically useful brake on carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Popover sporals might help protect their habitats from dangerous buildup of carbonic acid.

Source: Scan a Popover Sporal

Gallery