User:Masondactyl123/VolumeThree

Previous Volume

=Species Compendium: Soft Invertebrates=

Total Species Diversity: XXX

=Preface= This volume posed a great challenge for me. As I progress into later volumes, more and more names pulled from real world taxonomy will show up but I could not go nearly as deep as I wanted to with this volume because of how the genomic age is causing a huge upheaval in taxonomic relationships for pretty much everything invertebrate as well as for fish. Most of the other vertebrates are pretty much set in stone as to their taxonomic relationships and will likely receive little change as time goes on though. Let me also say that my focus in my studies is largely on vertebrates though I do grant crustaceans and cephalopods special mention so I am not quite as knowledgeable on these groups as I am on others

I also decided in this volume (and the next) to go through and name every ambient “species” I could find in the files. Many of the starfish, urchins, coral, sponges, and tubeworms were named by myself, while this isn’t canon this does draw a parallel with real-world nomenclature in that there can be a myriad of common names for species (Puma concolor currently holds the most) so I see no harm in doing so. In the end this is intended to be a resource for roleplayers and given how there is a lot of ambiguity even in real world biology I found this a fun exercise. Some of these species were kind of lazily named (I had to name over one hundred of them) so if any readers wish to propose a new name please feel free to message me and if I like it enough I will change the name.

=Setup= Each species is divided up into six categories.
 * Name is self-explanatory.
 * Appearances is a visual depiction of that species.
 * Status is a short description of their status as a species.
 * Unique Features is a brief description of any notable facts, behaviors, or traits that the species is known to exhibit.
 * Location is where the species can be found. Some species appear in numerous zones, so I simplify this down to just mean "". If you'd like to find all species within a particular zone, the sorting feature doesn't work too well. I suggest using Ctrl+F and searching that way.
 * Sources include all the resources I used to gather this information. NPCs are NPCs found in-game. Quests are specific quests that involve additional lore for the species. Other includes any other mentions, such as in-game books, published novels or visual depictions.

Each species grouping now has seven subsections to the profile before the species listing:


 * General Description: self-explanatory; general description of physical attributes and miscellaneous information
 * Social Behavior: General patterns of social behavior of the group. Do they operate in packs? Are they solitary? Any unique behaviors in their social interactions?
 * Reproductive Biology: Facts about their reproductive habits and mechanisms. Are they a sexual or asexual species? Are they polygamous or monogamous? Viviparous or Oviparous?
 * Defensive Mechanisms: General tactics and abilities a group might use when hunting or fending off a predator. Anything aside from the typical scratch and bite
 * Biology: Will often be left blank, any information we know about the inner workings of the animal.
 * Diet: What do they eat? Do they specialize on any particular food?
 * Location: general description of where members of the group might be located.

=Please Note!= '''Please do not make major edits to this page. Minor corrections are accepted and appreciated.'''

This list is the second entry in what will be the most complete species list ever created for WoW. Please keep in mind, I am one person. I miss things, I get some things wrong, and I'm not omniscient. This is why I've listed sources. Check for yourself if you're wishing to use anything here for roleplay or serious lore discussions. If you find anything incorrect, or discover a new type of species (or argue against me on what I decided was or wasn’t a species) that is not on this list, please let me know and I will do what I can to add it in or at least hear you out.
 * You can send in-game mail to Zanzulu on Horde-side Wyrmrest Accord.
 * You can leave a post on my talk page, found here.
 * You can add my Discord and send me a direct message here: Forgotten Goat#2933

'''Please do not make major edits to this page. Minor corrections are accepted and appreciated.'''

=(Preemptive) FAQ=

How Do You Choose What to Add?
That’s a complicated question. Even in real life, there is no clear cut definition of what defines a species, I have been introduced to 35 species concepts alone (Though only 3 have any weight) during my time as a biology student in university. Typically, if it’s a breed (variant of a domesticated animal) it is not a species, of course sometimes blizzard will call something a breed but it is also mentioned being seen in the wild so that means its a species. Typically, if it occurs in the wild, is distinct in range from similarly named mobs and doesn’t typically have prefixes that might be attributed to being a simple descriptor I consider it a species.

Why do you add some species that weren't added to the game?
Mostly, I add a lot of individual NPCs that exist within the game files but never made it in-game for flavor. It adds greater diversity of species for people to use in their roleplay and there exist species that we simply don't see in-game that we know exist in the lore (Like Arachnathids) so I basically often treat these never added NPCs as perhaps like a jaguar in the real world: secretive and not too often seen or just little-reported. In the end I think their addition enriches the species list rather than detracts from it (and some of these mobs have really cool names so it's almost a shame not to) and I hope readers will mostly agree. Every one of these species will say so in their "unique features" section so everybody who reads it is made aware as to the status of the npc.

Why Do Some Species Have Red Sources?
A lot of the newer NPCs, such as the mobs in a new expansion, have not yet been added to Wowpedia. Please keep in mind that the majority of content created on this website is done by a small team of volunteers; none of which are being paid, and there is a lot of work to do. In the meantime, please use Wowhead for your sources if the ones here appear in red text.

How Can I Roleplay Knowing These?
You can either say your character did their own research into these species and studied them on their own, or, I will be progressing and RPing that my character, a forest troll named Grazz’bek, has published this guide in book form and is written by me from his point of view (Meaning it is in character in writing form). You are more than welcome to say your character has purchased this book, I just ask the courtesy of mentioning that Grazz’bek is the author. :)

=Special Thanks and Mention= The former (as of now) WoW player known as “Cannibal” is owed his due thanks for giving me the format for this guide. While I helped him with my background in zoology to form the categories, this was originally his undertaking before he quit the game. Having been involved in the process I requested that I be allowed to finish it when he made the announcement he was leaving the game making sure that both his work and mine saw more than the light of a google doc. Hope you return to Azeroth one day, Beans ^_^

Thanks to Petopia and WarcraftPets.com for giving me permission to use some of their images. Certain models and skins do not show up properly in model viewer and I am able to use their facsimile images from their site to keep in line with the image format

=Porifera= Total Species Diversity: 22

Sea Sponge
Basal typically sessile animals that do not operate beyond the cellular level. At their simplest, sponges are essentially a chimney or tube that takes in water through incurrent channel pores lining the body and filtering it out through an opening at the top called an osculum. Three general body plans exist to describe sponges: asconoid, syconoid, and leuconoid. Asconoid are the afore-mentioned simplest state of sponges consisting of a small tube and simple internal cavity, an example of this body plan is the cucumber sponge. Syconoid sponges are a small step above asconoid retaining the standard chimney shape but have a more advanced inner network of channels allowing for greater surface area with which they can feed and thus reach larger sizes. The final body type: Leuconoid is where things start to get strange and what most sponges fall under with an internal body filled with numerous small channels allowing them to grow into various kinds of shapes

Social Behavior: Sponges are extremely simple animals and exhibit no social interactions.

Reproductive Biology Sponges are hermaphroditic and can reproduce using both asexual and sexual methods. Asexually, sponges can reproduce simply by producing genetically identical external buds. Sexual reproduction for sponges is also easily explained with a sponge expelling sperm into the surrounding water that will be taken in by other sponges through their incurrent channels, fertilized and then later released

Defensive Behavior Many sponges produce toxins to counter against predators.

Diet Sponges are filter feeders consuming bacteria and plankton found throughout the water

Range Sponges are found throughout Azeroth’s oceans.

Back to the species list.

=Cnidarian= Basal organisms exhibiting radial symmetry and a tissue level of organization. Cnidarians are most commonly distinguished from other organisms by the presence of cnidocytes or stinging cells that are typically used to capture prey and by their two different body plans: the free-swimming medusa and sessile polyps each with an oral (mouth) or aboral (away from mouth) end. An important note is that many cnidarian species will go through both a polyp and medusa stage in their life cycle (larval medusa and adult polyp or larval polyp and adult medusa) but I have only depicted the adult specimens of each species.

Total Species Diversity: 125

Anthozoa
Total Species Diversity: 100

Sea Anemone
A typical anemone can be described as a cylindrical trunk capped by a pedal disk that anchors the polyp to the substrate on the aboral end and a crown of tentacles with a flexible mouth, also known as an oral disk, on the oral end. The length of the trunk varies by species and may even be completely concealed burrowed into the substrate they attach to.

Social Behavior Anemones engage in little social behavior though polyps in certain species may group together in close proximity.

Reproductive Biology Anemones can reproduce by asexual or sexual means. Sexually, male anemones will expel sperm into the surrounding water that can be taken into the GI cavity by females for fertilization or trigger female polyps to expel their eggs into the water column to undergo external fertilization. Asexually, anemones can reproduce through a variety of methods including budding, fission, and fragmentation.

Defensive Mechanisms Like all cnidarians, sea anemones possess cnidocytes. For most species, however, the stinging cells are ineffective against most humanoids and serves mostly to capture prey items.

Diet Sea anemones are carnivorous and mostly consume zooplankton (microorganisms) but can eat anything from small fish to mollusks, echinoderms, and crustaceans.

Distribution Found in oceans worldwide.

Total Species Diversity: 14

Back to the species list.

Stony Coral
Stony corals are a group of sessile cnidarians typically forming colonies of genetically identical polyps that grow by asexual budding of the individual polyps bound by a calcium carbonate skeleton secreted by each polyp.

Reproductive Behavior Stony corals reproduce both sexually and asexually. Asexually they undergo budding and fragmentation while the means of sexual reproduction varies by species.

Defensive Biology Same as in all cnidarians: sting it.

Diet Coral largely feed upon zooplankton but have been known to feed upon small fish.

Range Worldwide in distribution but they occur in the greatest abundance in tropical and temperate waters where they are prone to forming reefs.

Total Species Diversity: 70

Back to the species list.

Brain Coral
Pretty self-explanatory in description: stony coral with a grooved spherical appearance similar to that of a brain.

Distribution Brain coral are typically found in temperate to tropical reef ecosystems and rarely outside of them..

Total Species Diversity: 2

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Fern Coral
Colonies spread out in layered "branches" giving them the appearance of an underwater fern..

Distribution Among the most widespread groups of coral; fern coral are worldwide in distribution.

Total Species Diversity: 3

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Staghorn Coral
An informal grouping of unrelated corals whose skeletons often grow out from stalks and branch into prong-shapes much like the antlers of many cervids (Note: I drew the inspiration for the name of this group from a common name given to certain species of the Acropora genus.The Acropora genus also holds species referred to as table coral. I am using the name as a catch-all term for coral art assets of similar structure and shape and not just models that bear a close resemblance to the real world species)

Distribution Being an informal grouping based on morphology, staghorn corals occupy many different niches and locations and can be found in various regions of the globe.

Total Species Diversity: 7

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Table Coral
Another informal grouping of unrelated coral species. Table coral are any coral who form broad, flattened skeletons covering more horizontal space than they do vertical. A number of table coral species are cultivated by Tortollans to use as chairs or actual tables in their dive bars and thus can sometimes be found outside of their native ranges in the undersea pubs.

Distribution Many table coral species are restricted and relatively local in distribution having carved out specific niches. A couple species, however, have achieved a more widespread distribution.

Total Species Diversity: 12

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Tree Coral
Like the table corals and staghorn corals, tree corals are an informal grouping characterized by their forming large colonies that begin with a large cylindrical trunk and bifurcate to form thick "branches" giving colonies a tree-like appearance.

Distribution Tree corals are typically known for only establishing colonies in robust and ancient reef ecosystems like in Nazjatar and Vashj'ir.

Total Species Diversity: 4

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Soft Coral
Soft corals, also commonly known as sea fans, are colonial organisms largely forming flattened branching colonies reminiscent of a fan in shape. Unlike their stony coral relatives, soft corals do not create calcium carbonate skeletons to enclose the polyps and provide support and instead have skeletons composed of tiny calcareous elements called sclerites.

Reproductive Biology Soft corals possess varying means of reproduction just as their hard coral relatives do.

Diet Many soft corals rely on colorful algae that grows upon the individual colonies as a primary source of energy but all soft corals are capable of filter feeding to consume plankton from the water column.

Range While not typically reefbuilders, soft coral colonies often grow in reef environs and can be found anchored even to soft substrates like mud and sand.

Total Species Diversity: 15

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Zoanthid
Often seen as undersea plants as they look like tentacle lined undersea flowers, and harvested by herbalists as if they are, Zoanthids make up an order of Anthozoa. Unlike the corals and anemones, zoanthids incorporate surrounding sediment into their tissue to provide structure.

Reproductive Biology Reproduction is varied between species and can occur by asexual or sexual methods.

Defensive Behavior Zoanthid polyps or "blooms" are often consumed by wildlife and thus when a branch or "tentacle" is removed from the rest of the colony it will curl up and retract preventing the individual zoanthid polyps from being consumed or harvested. (Did Blizzard understand what the hell it was they were talking about in this quest because the quest text makes no sense relative to the actual appearance of the herb node in game)

Diet Zoanthids gain energy by photosynthesis with symbiotes as well as filter feeding on plankton

Range A variety of environments from reefs to deep ocean depths..

Total Species Diversity: 1

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Medusozoa
Total Species Diversity: 25

Jellyfish
The Scyphozoans, or true jellyfish are among the most familiar and feared of all cnidarians. Unlike the anthozoans (anemones, corals, and zoanthids), jellyfish and other medusozoans (like the man o' war) possess both a polyp and medusa stage, the free-swimming medusa stage being what I will describe and focus on. A general physical profile of a jellyfish is an umbrella or bell-shaped "top" with a litany of stinging tentacles beneath it.

Social Behavior While not truly social in nature, some jellyfish species will congregate in swarms.

Reproductive Biology Medusa stage jellyfish typically reproduce by the release of sperms and eggs into the water column

Diet In their medusa stage large jellyfish are often predatory and will feed upon crustaceans and fish that get caught up in their stinging tentacles

Range Like many of the other cnidarians, jellyfish are worldwide and can be found in any depth.

Total Species Diversity: 24

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Helsquid
Helsquids are a mysterious offshoot of jellyfish associated with Helheim.

Biology Helsquid are named as such because their cells, much like many cephalopds (of which squids are a part of) are able of producing ink.

Diet Helsquid are indiscriminate devourers of everything they come across and can completely strip a region of all biota where they will subsequently revert into polyp form and wait for the area to eventually have food again.

Distribution Native to the realm of Helheim, but will also appear in regions where Helya's influence is known to be great.

Total Species Diversity: 3

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Siphonophore
Siphonophores are unique organisms of the class Hydrozoa that form colonies composed of a number of specialized individuals with specific functions. (Siphonophores are weird so I'm not going to get into much more than that)

Total Species Diversity: 1

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=Platyhelminthes= Platyhelminthes, commonly known as flatworms, are among the simplest organisms with what can be considered organs. They do not possess a body cavity or circulatory and respiratory organs forcing them to do gas exchange by simple diffusion leading to their flattened shape.

Total Species Diversity: 1

Cestode
Also known as tapeworms in the common vernacular. These things are disgusting so I will keep it simple. Adult tapeworms have a simple anatomy consisting of a scolex with which they anchor to the host, a short neck, and a line of segments called proglottids that get produced from the neck and grow larger and larger as they get further from the scolex.

Diet What their host ate

Total Species Diversity: 1

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=Annelid= Total Species Diversity: 84

Leech
Grotesque parasitic worms that inhabit freshwater environs throughout the world. On the outside, these sickening creatures posses two suckers, one on each end, and external annuli (rings) like most annelids but that do not match their internal segmentation. The coeloms of leeches have also been greatly narrowed to small stratified channels.

Reproductive Biology Leeches are sequential hermaphrodites, starting out with male reproductive organs and developing and switching to female reproductive organs later on.

Diet Leeches are ectoparasites that feed off the blood of their host, but one species sucks the energies from a host's soul.

Distribution Generally considered to be worldwide (and beyond) in distribution and have been "domesticated" for medicinal use across many cultures cementing their cosmopolitan status.

Total Species Diversity: 3

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Earthworm
Also commonly called 'Nightcrawlers'. If one used the word "worm", chances are an image of an earthworm comes to mind. While not charismatic, their importance to improving and maintaining soil quality and fertility has long made them appreciated by mortal civilizations as no agrarian society could get off the ground without them. Earthworms are long and cylindrical in shape with a fluid-filled cavity (coelom) to provide them with structure.

Reproductive Biology Earthworms are hermaphroditic and undergo internal fertilization...I'm not saying anymore.

Diet Earthworms travel anywhere from just above ground through leaf-litter to various layers within the soil eating organic matter (living and dead) they come across which helps break down larger organic detritus.

Distribution Earthworms occur worldwide and have even independently evolved on Draenor where they also find a ubiquitous distribution. Given how they are known to evolve, it might be they are necessary in the development of life outside of simple abundance of the Spirit element.

Total Species Diversity: 10

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Ice worm
Also called a frost worm.

A small, poorly understood kind of worm unique from other oligochaetes.

Distribution Ice worms are endemic to Highmountain where they inhabit gravel beds and riverine environs

Total Species Diversity: 1

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Borer Worm
A derived and widespread group of worms that make up the physically largest of the oligochaetes. These worms are quite different from other annelids possessing armored overlapping segments and distinct formation of a head with a jawlike structure and even eyes (something no other annelids possess).

Defensive Mechanisms Borer worms commonly possess acidic bites and even the ability to spit it (possibly to aid in digestion as their "jaws" cannot masticate).

Diet Borer worms, while aggressive, are not predatory and prefer to eat fungi and decaying organic material.

Distribution Deep and complex cave systems of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor are the most likely locales to find borer worms, but certain species have adapted to different niches.

Total Species Diversity: 10 (extant)

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Bloodworm
Vile worms commonly associated with dark magics and filth.

Total Species Diversity: 3

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Bone worm
Bone Worms are subterranean worms with chitinized armor akin to that seen in arthropods and 5 pairs of elongated and hardened parapodia. These worms are gray in coloration and only inhabit barren habitats.

Social Behavior Bone worms typically lead solitary lives, the one exception known was when they appeared upon the Broken Shore.

Defensive Behavior Bone worms are venomous.

Diet Carnivorous

Distribution Bone Worms are native to Draenor and aside from their odd occurrence upon the Broken Shore are entirely restricted to Terokkar Forest in present day Outland.

Total Species Diversity: 3

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Carrion worm
Carrion worms are bioluminescent polychaetes with partially ossified parapodia running laterally down their bodies with some parapodia being migrated towards the oral cavity to form teeth (though not true teeth). Dorsal parapodia have likewise been modified to have intermittently hardened units jutting out like barbed spikes though it is not sure what these barbed parapodia are for as they would no doubt be detrimental to subterranean movement.

A second kind of carrion worm is added to this section though bearing no close relation to the previous group. These worms bear the appearance of yellow oversized maggots and are believed to be grubs or larvae of some sort, but I for one have never seen an insect of their native range that is large enough to be the adult form of these creatures so they are just tossed in here.

Social Behavior Carrion worms are typically solitary creatures but have no issue congregating when there is plenty of food to be had

Defensive Mechanisms Forms of toxic spit are common to carrion worms and an exaptation of their ability to produce dangerous substances is the covering of their body with it in one species.

Diet True to their name, carrion worms prefer to feast upon carrion but they do not shirk live meat if given the opportunity.

Distribution The yellow maggot-like worms are native to the current plaguelands of what was once Lordaeron while the true carrion worms were thought endemic to Draenor but an Azerothian group has shown up in the vast underground caverns beneath Highmountain.

Total Species Diversity: 5 (2 and 3)

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Jormungar
Spoken of in myth to be the misbegotten children of the wayward titan keeper Loken. Jormungar are large aggressive worms with mineralized parapodia that take an almost crystalline appearance and a thick mane of setae running dorsomedially along the body flanked by two more small trails of setae running laterally as well as an articulate mouth full of sharp teeth.

Social Behavior Jormungar may sometimes have broods headed by individual spawnmothers that outsize the other adult Jormungar.

Reproductive Biology The reproductive habits of Jormungar reflect the social habits above.

Defensive Mechanisms Like many large annelids, jormungar possess toxin glands from which they produce a highly corrosive venom.

Diet Jormungar are incredibly predatory and have a strong preference for meat although in one case they are shown to even be geophagous. The most unique part about their feeding biology is that larger jormungar actively feast upon the eggs of other jormungar in order to facilitate their continued growth.

Distribution These voracious worms are endemic to the continent of Northrend.

Total Species Diversity: 8

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Rockworm
Rockworms are very similar in appearance to the jormungar of Northrend. This similarity could be due to convergent evolution or a case of recent shared ancestry.

Social behavior Rockworms are varied in their social habits. Many rockworm species are entirely solitary only meeting with each other to breed while others (usually of the smaller species) group together to hunt.

Defensive Mechanisms Like many large annelids, rockworms possess the ability to spit a toxic bile or venom at their prey

Island rockworm species are of a unique trend in their abilities, in hinting at a common ancestor each species will spin its body around using the spiny parapodia lining their bodies to shred at flesh. However, just about every individual species has its own unique spitting attack (Aside from the Gnashing Horror which appears to be a recent evolution out of the frostbore worms.

Diet Carnivorous

Distribution Rockworms largely inhabit islands and regions within the Great Sea between the four major continents while on Draenor rockworms are often found in areas disturbed by activity of the Breakers such as Gorgrond and Frostfire Ridge

Total Species Diversity: 25

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Sand worm
They look an awful lot like bone worms but with more color to their bodies.

Social behavior Largely solitary and some species are quite territorial

Defensive Mechanisms Like many of the other large annelid families, sand worms have venom glands

Diet Carnivorous

Distribution Sand worms are known from the more barren habitats of Outland and the dunes of Tanaris

Total Species Diversity: 7

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Tidal Guardian
Flattened colorful worms that can often be found in close association with the naga.

Social behavior Tidal worms can occur in relatively high densities when found often involving multiple species but nothing else can really be extrapolated about their social ecology

Defensive Mechanisms Tidal guardians possess powerful electrogenic organs within their bodies with electricity cascading along their antenna and mandibles.

Diet Carnivorous

Distribution Deep within the world's oceans, often near naga strongholds.

Total Species Diversity: 5

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Tube Worm
Tubeworms are an odd group of sedentary annelids that inhabit chitinous tubes they produce from specialized glands in their body walls. Their bodies can be broken down into four distinct body regions. The first body region is the branchial plume from which gas is exchanged within the water column and the part of the body that is seen outside of the chitin tube. Second is a fleshy muscular collar called a vestimentum, following that you have the trunk with all the visceral organs and then finally the opistosome that anchors the worm to its tube.

Social behavior Tubeworms often congregate in colonies, though I'm not sure if this is deliberate or having to do with resource concentration being densely localized.

Reproduction Like many other sessile organisms, tubeworm males emit sperm into the water column to then be taken up by female individuals to be fertilized within the ovaries.

Defensive Mechanisms Being sedentary, tubeworms have no ability to flee and thus their only defensive measure is to retreat the plume within the chitonous tube in which most of the body is contained and seal it with a special operculum

Diet These worms do not feed, and in fact lack digestive systems entirely, but instead the plume is highly vascularized and provides nutrients gathered from the water to bacteria housed within a special organ called a trophosome. The bacteria within the trophosome in turn provide the worm with the essential nutrients it needs.

Distribution Typically, deep within the ocean and often near hydrothermal vents is where these worms anchor themselves

Total Species Diversity: 4

Back to the species list.

=Mollusc=

Bivalve
The general common appearance of a bivalve is a shell composed of calcium carbonate consisting of two articulating valves that join to each other along a hinge. Most bivalves live sedentary to even sessile lives buried in sediment or anchored to a form of substrate within a body of water

Reproduction Like so many other sedentary creatures, bivalves reproduce largely by external fertilization releasing their gametic cells into the water column to mingle and fertilize.

Defensive Mechanisms For most bivalves, their calcified shell is their first and last line of defense against potential predators but an additional measure is made by many non-anchored bivalves in burrowing into the substrate where they may hopefully lie concealed

Diet Most bivalves are filter feeders, consuming plankton (mostly phytoplankton) from within the water column

Distribution Oceans and freshwater bodies across Azeroth and Draenor

Clam
Clams are an informal grouping used for a multitude of bivalves, but as having typically bilaterally symmetrical valves.

Distribution Oceans and freshwater bodies across Azeroth and Draenor

Total Species Diversity: 18

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Oyster
Oysters are sessile bivalves with heavily calcified shells often creating irregular shaped valves.

Social behavior Oysters anchor to a substrate and congregate in groups that eventually form what is called an oyster bed. Oyster beds are important to the health of their ecosystems providing habitat to many species of fish.

Reproduction Oysters are protandric and thus start out reproducing as males then subsequently switch over to producing female gametes as time passes

Distribution With the exception of the freshwater species, oysters largely restrict themselves to marine and brackish environments often within the intertidal zone

Total Species Diversity: 1

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Scallop
Scallops are brilliantly colored bivalves with characteristic fan-shaped valves.

Reproduction Scallops are hermaphroditic but some species

Defensive Mechanisms Scallops count themselves among the most "free-living" of bivalves, some species capable of simple swimming and even migration, but most scallops lie at rest until a potential predator is detected in which they will flee using jet propulsion caused by clapping their valves together

Diet Filter-feeder

Distribution Worldwide, primarily in salt water

Total Species Diversity: 1

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Ammonite
Peculiar cephalopods with external coiled shells

Social behavior Living ammonites are known to exist in schools

Reproduction Ammonites rely on laying large numbers of eggs at the end of their lifecycle.

Defensive Mechanisms Like most cephalopods, ammonites possess ink sacs that they will release in a cloud when threatened

Diet Ammonites are believed to have been mostly carnivorous like other cephalopods but the fire ammonite has a strong taste for frostfire fruit

Distribution At one point in time, Ammonites could be found throughout the seas of Azeroth but as of the current day, only the Fire Ammonite of Draenor (another planet) is known to currently exist.

Total Species Diversity: 1

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Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish are squid-like creatures but can be distinguished by several key distinguishing features. Cuttlefish, unlike squids, have a 'w' shaped pupil and a stouter more flattened mantle due to the presence of a flattened internal shell called a cuttlebone as well as a fin that extend all the way around the mantle. Cuttlefish, even for cephalopods, have an exquisite ability of changing their color, pattern, and skin texture making them constantly equipped with an extensive wardrobe.

Social behavior While cuttlefish aren't social in the form of any degree of group dynamics they do come into frequent interaction with each other displaying an incredible diversity of visual signals to communicate making use of their ability to change color and skin texture as well as positioning of their arms to send specific messages to one another when interacting with one another.

Reproduction Given their short lifespans (1-2 years), cuttlefish have very few opportunities to breed in fact the females will breed only once and then die shortly after laying their eggs. Males usually get access to dens and territory and therefore females by being the largest, but granted since a male might have multiple females in his territory, small sneaker males might have the opportunity to mate with the female while the dominant male is patrolling the territory.

Defensive Mechanisms like all cephalopods, cuttlefish possess an ink sac to disorient predators and also have their color and texture changing abilities to make them blend in with their environment, some cuttlefish are even venomous and will flare bright colors to warn potential predators.

Diet Carnivorous, mostly crabs and fish as adults and shrimp as juveniles

Distribution Cuttlefish are currently only recorded in the North Sea

Total Species Diversity: 1

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Leviathan
A subject of fear and legend among the maritime peoples of Azeroth, leviathans are massive cephalopods borne of the Abyssal Maw. While placed within Coeloidea along with cuttlefish, squid, and octopuses and bearing marked resemblance to the latter two, leviathans possess several notable features that place them firmly in their own taxon. To start, leviathans possess eight arms much like an octopus but while octopuses have arms of roughly equal length leviathans sport three shorter arms positioned dorsally flanked by two much longer arms on each side of the animal and finally by an even longer and thicker arm with a finned tip situated towards the venter. Another synapomorphy of the leviathans is the loss of the beak exhibited by most other cephalopods and instead have an open maw lined with layers of teeth with a three-part radula-like organ. Each part of the radula is prehensile and autonomous as well as tipped with a tooth making the confrontation with the mouth of one of these beasts one of horrific despair.

Social behavior Leviathans are almost always seen alone unless with young or when they congregate to breed.

Reproduction Among coeloids, leviathans are unique in terms of reproduction. Like the ammonites and nautiluses, leviathans are known to reproduce multiple times in their lives and are the only group of cephalopods to exhibit parental care, although this is not exhibited across all species. In fact, leviathans are known to exhibit both R and K-selection strategies in terms of number of offspring albeit in different

One method (the R-strategy) is a leviathan laying a large number of eggs that hatch into relatively small (about the size of a normal octopus) fry that will stick by their mother for protection until they are suitably large to fend for themselves. Due to the large number of spawn though and the relatively low numbers of adult leviathans across all species it is possible that despite staying near their mother there are far too many initially for her to "keep an eye on" and therefore frequently fall victim to depredation from other large predators until eventually there is only a few left that the mother can then efficiently guard.

The second method (the K-strategy) is the laying of a small number of large eggs that hatch into fully developed juveniles and must immediately fend for themselves with their parents having long since moved on from the spawning grounds.

Defensive Mechanisms Due to their enormous size, Leviathans have next to nothing to fear and sit at the top of the food chain. Thus, it disturbs me that having the power to rip almost anything apart, leviathans still possess the ink sacs of their relatives despite having no known predators.

Diet Carnivorous; apex predator

Distribution Any seaman can confirm that no part of Azeroth's seas are free from these monsters

Total Species Diversity: 4

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Nautilus
The second of the two types of cephalopods with an external shell.

Social behavior

Reproduction Like the leviathans and ammonites, nautiluses breed multiple times during their lifespans

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Diet

Distribution

Total Species Diversity: 2

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Octopus
Physical description.

Social behavior

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Biology

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Distribution Typically, temperate to tropical seas

Total Species Diversity: 10

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Squid
Physical description.

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Total Species Diversity: 2

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Land slug
Physical description.

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Land snail
Physical description.

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Abalone
Physical description.

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Conch
Physical description.

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Freshwater snail
Physical description.

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Sea slug
Physical description.

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Sea snail
Physical description.

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Whelk
Physical description.

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=Echinoderm=

Starfish
Physical description.

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Sea Urchin
Physical description.

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Sea cucumber
Physical description.

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Brittle Star
Physical description.

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Back to the species list.

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