Hexate Veil

In the upper zones of Ammon’s oceans, vast colonies of filter feeders hang suspended like translucent nets. From afar, the colonies look like a shimmering curtain, glinting faintly gold under artificial light. At closer observation, each veil is composed of many hexagonal organisms linked together like a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphonophoraesiphonophore. siphonophore]. Unlike their Terran analogs, however, Hexate veils are are merely one life stage of a complex organism that undergoes multiple metamorphoses during its long life.

1. Colony
For the majority of its life cycle, Polyschima Hartshorni exists as a colonial suspension feeder, entrapping smaller organisms that pass through the veil and siphoning dissolved metals from the surrounding liquid. These metals are then collected in its inner organs, leading to the reflectivity characteristic of the species.

The colony has little observed independent movement, mostly drifting where tides and atmospheric patterns dictate. During Sun Season, however, the Hexate veil shudders and then rips, dispersing into individual multicellular organisms ('hexes,' or floaters) that drift away to undergo their first metamorphosis.

2. Arthropod
In the second stage of its life, the Hexate floater metamorphoses into a small arthropod better known as the Hartshorn shrimp. These common animals are found in rocky coastal areas across the planet, where they deposit collected minerals to build Bosch spires (previously erroneously attributed to Hilschwisps) and other geological features.

The discovery that these vastly dissimilar life forms were in fact the same species caused scientific uproar among the biologists, with some hailing it as a breakthrough and others calling it complete lunacy. Only after sample hexes were witnessed metamorphosing in the lab did the naysayers admit defeat.

3. Nursery
Adult Hartshorn shrimp mate and deposit barnacle-like nurseries on the spires. The nursery is an intermediate generation that does not eat, but releases billions of hex babies to float in search of a colony. Each nursery can release several generations of young before perishing, leaving their carapaces to help build the spires.