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Background
The star system of SP-18289740 is visible from Laconian space and was thus given a Laconian sky chart number. As it is a mere 20 light years away from Laconia, an expedition was sent through the Ring Gate. There are no obvious Builder artefacts present in the system, either in orbit around the planet in the habitable zone (henceforth called "Spindle") or on its surface. Several probes have been left in distant orbit and sent to the system's gas giants to see if there is anything of interest elsewhere. In the meanwhile, a team of scientists has set down on Spindle at Site Alpha.
Geography and Climate
Spindle has no large continents, but instead a vast archipelagic sea, the largest few of which are larger than any of Laconia's islands – approximately the size of Greenland on Earth. The planet also has only a very small axial tilt of 2° and an extremely low orbital eccentricity. In combination, this leads to a complete lack of seasons and extremely little variation between daytime and nighttime temperatures. The ocean is relatively shallow.
Site Alpha is in the middle of the largest island. The ground here is white, with analysis showing a chalky surface stratum above a limestone analogue. Analysis of nearby islands yields identical results. The ocean has a high dissolved calcium carbonate content, consistent with the above.
Ecology
The main lifeform of the island is a photosynthesizing grass analogue that grows to a height of up to two centimeters. The local chlorophyll analogue is black, leading to this grass being known as stubble grass. There are two motile herbivores that consume it: a hexapedal lifeform that has a mouth on a proboscus, and a centipede-like segmented lifeform that has mouths on the bottoms of its feet. The centipedes additionally consume the other observed type of plant, a quadrilaterally symmetric star-shaped ground-covering leaf analogue. These starburst leaves can grow up to half a meter in diameter.
The hexapods appear as if they come from an entirely different evolutionary branch to the other witnessed lifeforms. They are bilaterally symmetric, ranging from 10 to 15 centimeters in length. They walk forwards in a straight line, eating the stubble grass. If they hit water, they walk into it and float to the next island. They are also occasionally picked up by the wind. The section of foot impacting the ground points inward; a potential adaptation for making tumbling easier.
No juveniles have been observed. We have introduced multiple individuals to the same vicinity, where they proceeded to ignore each other. It is possible the hexapods are amphibious, with significant portions of their life cycle, including reproduction, happening in the ocean, but this has yet to be observed.
The centipedes, on the other hand, are quadrilaterally symmetric. They, too, consume stubble grass with the mouths at the bottom of each leg. They can move their jointless legs at the base, but locomotion seems to happen primarily through being tossed around on the wind. The spoke-like arrangement of their legs means that at however they land, they will end up with two sets of legs on the ground and two in the air. The centipedes are also 10 to 15 centimeters (8 to 13 segments) long, with the central part being 3 centimeters thick and the legs approximately 5 centimeters in length.
While no juveniles have been observed, if a centipede is cut in half at a segment boundary so that there are at least two segments on each side, each half will become its own, autonomous centipede. It is possible that centipedes can trigger this process themselves. A centipede has been observed with a rear segment half the size of the other ones, indicating that they could possibly reproduce through growing in length and then cleaving themselves in half.
One species of carnivore has been observed. It is not motile, but rather a species of starburst leaf. From above, they are easy to distinguish visually by the second, paler starburst in the center, which leads to a gullet filled with digestive juices. They mainly seem to eat hexapods, which will happily walk over the leaf surface into the maw, but centipedes will also occasionally tumble in.
The third observed motile species is interesting. It is a species of starburst leaf that seems to have evolved tendons between the tips of its leaf and unmoored itself from its roots, allowing it to turn itself into a sail. These are at most a centimeter wide; they resemble gnats in their propensity to fly into one's eye and the amount of annoyance they cause.
No lifeform on Spindle seems to have evolved eyes.