Migrating film grazer

Sleel

A slender groove traveller. Sleels browse living film, leave depleted patches, and settle where chemistry and shelter promise a lasting margin.

At a glance

Adult length84 cmNose to tail at full growth.

Adult biomass543 gWet biomass derived from length and slenderness.

Cruise speed1.15 m/sSustained travel through a groove.

Lunge speed1.5 m/sA brief burst used at close range.

Maturity4 minAge at which breeding becomes possible.

Lifetime1 hrWhen age begins to add the same stress as hunger.

How it finds food

A Sleel reads the overlap between vent reductant and ocean reactant, then tests reachable rock for living film. It stays only while intake covers upkeep.

Why it lives in grooves

Its flanks read nearby water and rock. Narrow passages expose grazing surface, offer shelter, and can exclude the larger body of a Tarantor.

How it breeds

Two well-fed adults entwine before pairing. Warm grooves provide the conditions they prefer for anchored eggs.

Simulation values

These values are read from the live species tuning table during the build.

Synced to code

Body & movement

body length84 cm

Nose to tail of a grown adult. Girth, body material, burst, and intake all derive from it, so this one knob is most of the animal.

Adjustable range 40 cm–1.4 m

cruise1.15 m/s

Sustained swimming speed. The ecology contract holds it above a Tarantor's cruise and well above a Skipper's (docs/ECOLOGY.md C1, C2).

Adjustable range 0.4 m/s–2 m/s

turn rate2.6 rad/s

How fast the head can swing. High, because an eel steers by threading passages rather than by outrunning them.

Adjustable range 0.5 rad/s–6.0 rad/s

drift carry×0.30

How much of the current the body inherits. Low: a Sleel hugs substrate and swims through the water more than it rides it.

Adjustable range ×0.00–×1.40

Feeding & survival

graze rate3.0e-2/s

Attached film removed per unit of body material per second while the mouth can reach a rock face.

Adjustable range 5.0e-3/s–1.5e-1/s

maintenance4.0e-4/s

Existence cost per unit of body material per second. The ecology contract holds one Skipper meal to minutes of upkeep, not seconds.

Adjustable range 2.0e-4/s–5.0e-3/s

resilience3 min

How long a body can fail to pay upkeep before visible decline begins.

Adjustable range 30 sec–10 min

Senses & search

wall hug×1.1

Pull toward lower clearance. This is groove affinity: the body prefers water close to rock and reads open water as exposure.

Adjustable range ×0.0–×3.0

roam×0.8

Slow meander mixed into travel when no trail is present, so searching threads new passages instead of pacing one.

Adjustable range ×0.0–×2.0

Reproduction & lifespan

maturity4 min

Seconds before a body is grown and may breed. A hatchling is the same animal at a smaller scale, growing into itself.

Adjustable range 30 sec–15 min

egg warmth6.0e-5

Ambient-relative heat a groove must hold before eggs are laid in it. This is independent from dissolved food-web chemistry.

Adjustable range 0.0e+0–5.0e-4

lifetime1 hr

Seconds of life before age accrues the same stress hunger does.

Adjustable range 10 min–3 hr