Water weeds

Water weeds were carnivorous plants native to G0-CVII. They could grow to a length of nine meters and a diameter of two decimeters, but most were much shorter and smaller.

They grew in the waters of caverns beneath the two rows of mountains that ringed the planet. Fish and other animals that lived in the water would go through the caverns on their way to the equator every fall, and the water weeds ate what they could. Because food was scarce in the winter, spring, and summer, water weeds lay dormant with only minimal life signs in every season except autumn. They reproduced by budding, and competition for food kept them from growing out of control.

Water weeds had a mouthlike opening at one end that was lined with bony bristles. Small protrusions along their outer coating were tipped with barbs and could snag small prey and move it along to the mouth; larger prey usually got away.

During he dormant seasons, water weeds produced enough food for survival by absorbing water and nutrients from the surrounding waters and using heat from underground magma, just barely close enough to warm the waters, to make food through the chemical process of thermosynthesis.