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| WATER PLANTS -
the survey team |
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When the survey team collected samples
from Osiris' ocean, they came across a variety of life forms. The scientists
temporarily placed these life forms into three categories: decomposers,
producers, and
consumers. Decomposers are life forms that consume organic debris
while producers are able to make their own food or be a source of food for other life
forms. Lastly, the consumers are life forms that consume other organisms.
Scientists were able to trace the origin of plants to the KHNUM
which was the first aquatic plant. |
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| KHNUMS have
open-topped, sack like bodies with many long stems. They can live in many types of
communites. However, they are mostly found in estuaries and rivers where food
sources are abundant. They obtain their food by consuming the nutrients from the
decomposition of other life forms. A mature Khnum average size is about 2
feet. KHNUMS are asexual plants.
Their offsprings are formed by mitosis. When a stem attains maturity, it
drops to the ground and grows into another KHNUM. |
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CABILETUC |
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Another plant the team found was the CABILETUC.
This underwater plant found in the oceans of OSIRIS has similarities to the
cabbage and lettuce plant we are familiar with on Earth and therefore the name was born.
The CABILETUC is a source of food for
living organisms. It is a producer and it thrives in the warm waters of OSIRIS
ocean. It is able to photosysnthesize the sun's energy. It can root itself to
the bottom of the sea as well as the oceans' rocks. The CABILETUC likes to grow in clusters and is the same size
as cabbages on Earth. This plant reproduces itself by the seeds found in the center
of the plant. |
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| ZIGEN is a
multi-cellular aquatic plant. The earliest form of the plant grew in the deep waters
of the oceanic areas around 20 degrees above the equator. Its photosynthetic cells
give the long streamers a wonderful yellow and gold hue. The ZIGEN
belongs to the phylum consumer. Its long yellow "tails" or
streamers wrap around fish when they brush by. The ZIGEN
can also be found in the shallow waters of the tropical estuaries and in the warm waters
off the equatorial coasts. The warm water allows the ZIGENS to grow as tall as 10 feet and spread across the
ocean floor as a large mass. |
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| Sagemass is a multicelluar plant that is located
in the Sobek Sea located between the east coast and the twin islands. These plants float
on the surface where they can get plenty of sunlight. Tiny air sacks allow this plant to
float and drift on the surface. These plants reproduce without the use of seeds. Waves
break off small sections of the mature plant. These fragments then grow into a whole new
plant. The Sagemass continually grows into one huge living mass filled with all kinds of
creatures. |
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All these
plants play an important role in Osiris' water ecosystem |
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