Definitely Not Earth’s Twin Two

[Burger Cat]

Team Octotank.

Discussion
We need a better food source. Drifting debris might become more scarce as the Slime mats block out the sun, killing more and more life on the ocean floor. By extension, they could end up extincting us. Either we branch into herbivory like the other team, or we become a predator in our own right, competing with the Jawed Eels. There are pros and cons to both scenarios.

1. Herbivory.
An obvious pro here would be the vast quantities of food sources available to us. Essentially we would be preying on a species with such a vast population that our feeding wouldn't even matter. As an added advantage, Ocmales could launch spear-eggs right into the slime mats, allowing our young to consume with impunity until adulthood, perhaps even living and staying in the midst of the slime mats their whole life. We would be competing with the Speckled Squid Fish, but again, there's also a lot of Slime Mat to go around.
A potential con would be that we are filling a pre-existing niche that is already filled by the Speckled Squid Fish. This is not so much a biological con as it may be an OOC con, since we may end up with very similar Slime-Eating creatures trying to out-compete each other.

2. Carnivory.
An obvious pro here is also that our food source will be abundant; the Speckled Squid Fish, which will most likely be our predominant prey, have ample Slime Mat to go around, and reproduce quite quickly. They could easily become a staple for the Killer Tube. Furthermore, Ocmale spear-eggs could be used as weapons to aid in the killing of Speckled Squid Fish, providing food for both the young and nearby adults. Our main competition will be the Jawed Eels, but we already have an advantage over them, such that we might even be able to start preying on them as well.
The only con I can see here is that if the Slime Mats evolve some kind of defense, that the Speckled Squid Fish population may end up declining and cause us a bit of trouble. Also, a herbivorous species can more easily branch out into omnivory, due to generally longer digestive tracts and multiple pseudo-stomachs; carnivores often struggle to evolve the same, since their tract is much more streamlined and efficient already.

I would say that the carnivory route would be interesting to go into but I do have a interesting idea of gender trimorphism based on diet with females becoming herbivores, males becoming carnivores, and Ocmales themselves would be based on what we want as a team for them to become in terms of diet. But I do say that I would go into the carnivory route on my end if the gender trimorphism diet route is too hard for us to go into.

[BakedToast]

but I do have a interesting idea of gender trimorphism based on diet

LOVE THIS!

Females would need a more consistent food source in order to produce eggs, and thus herbivory makes a lot of sense. Females may tend to be slightly larger and a bit more sluggish. Males would be a bit smaller, but faster and more aggressive.

Since it's trimorphism, I propose that the Killer Tube develops a social structure where Ocmales are actually fed both meat and plants by nearby males and females of their herd. Ocmales will technically be omnivores, but they will not gather the food on their own, since they act as incubators/carriers.

In order to do this in the above way, however, we'll need to spend all three votes on it. [One vote to develop streamlined Herbivory in females, another to develop streamlined Carnivory in males, and a third to develop Omnivory in Ocmales.]

That being said, there may be a more vote-efficient way of doing this, thus freeing up another vote or two for other things, or to concentrate our votes for a higher success rate.
If we can somehow develop omnivory right off the bat for all three genders, and then use another vote to have behavioral dietary trimorphism, we not only get the trimorphism we desire, but also our species still has the option to eat food "not meant" for their gender if they need to in order to survive. That will only take us two votes, meaning that the third vote can be the sex vote, used for whatever we want.

Ultimately though, I do agree with you. I think that carnivory, if we cannot go into trimorphism, would be the better of the two options.

[Burger Cat]

but I do have a interesting idea of gender trimorphism based on diet

LOVE THIS!

Females would need a more consistent food source in order to produce eggs, and thus herbivory makes a lot of sense. Females may tend to be slightly larger and a bit more sluggish. Males would be a bit smaller, but faster and more aggressive.

Since it's trimorphism, I propose that the Killer Tube develops a social structure where Ocmales are actually fed both meat and plants by nearby males and females of their herd. Ocmales will technically be omnivores, but they will not gather the food on their own, since they act as incubators/carriers.

In order to do this in the above way, however, we'll need to spend all three votes on it. [One vote to develop streamlined Herbivory in females, another to develop streamlined Carnivory in males, and a third to develop Omnivory in Ocmales.]

That being said, there may be a more vote-efficient way of doing this, thus freeing up another vote or two for other things, or to concentrate our votes for a higher success rate.
If we can somehow develop omnivory right off the bat for all three genders, and then use another vote to have behavioral dietary trimorphism, we not only get the trimorphism we desire, but also our species still has the option to eat food "not meant" for their gender if they need to in order to survive. That will only take us two votes, meaning that the third vote can be the sex vote, used for whatever we want.

Ultimately though, I do agree with you. I think that carnivory, if we cannot go into trimorphism, would be the better of the two options.

I do feel like one of us can use our vote to focused on a gender while the sex vote can be used for the Ocmale social structure omnivory diet, I will be voting for the streamlined carnivory for males vote for myself.

[DehEvil]

So I guess I'm running this team now....

Know your place, bottom feeders.

[Tiberius]

Does anyone here read french? I'm thinking about writing the turns in english and french so I can get some practice while I work on the turns.

As in a french version and an english version, not a mish mash

[Guineapig004]

Je parle couramment google traduire! Mais pas de français.

[DehEvil]

Team Any:

Vote: Evolve a covering of venomous spines around the body that extend when attacked.

Sex Vote: Evolve a complete exoskeleton to protect the animal and strengthen it.

[Guineapig004]

Team ABNTT:
Clusters deprived of water now thicken their cell membranes, reducing water loss.

[BakedToast]

Team Octotank

I think we’ll be better off not doing dietary trimorphism. That being said, since one of our normal votes is going into carnivorous diet, I am going to vote for a herbivorous diet, so that we have a higher chance of omnivory.

Vote: Develop secondary digestive system that can specifically digest the matter of the Slime Mats (since it seems softer than actual plant matter, it should be easier to digest). This also gives us the bonus that Ocmales can shoot young into the slime mats where they can grow and eat slimes with impunity.

As for the sex vote, I’m not sure.

[Burger Cat]

Team Octotank

I think we’ll be better off not doing dietary trimorphism. That being said, since one of our normal votes is going into carnivorous diet, I am going to vote for a herbivorous diet, so that we have a higher chance of omnivory.

Vote: Develop secondary digestive system that can specifically digest the matter of the Slime Mats (since it seems softer than actual plant matter, it should be easier to digest). This also gives us the bonus that Ocmales can shoot young into the slime mats where they can grow and eat slimes with impunity.

As for the sex vote, I’m not sure.

That can work, I will reword the vote to work this into our favor.
I do have some suggestion for our sex vote:
1. Evolve an swim bladder to allow our species to get to the slime mats easier and allow our ocmales to float, later down the line can be reworked into lungs if we move onto land.
2. Evolve endoskeleton of either cartilage, calcium or silica to have better structural support of the tube body and better defenses against the eels.
3. Develop a mouth-hole supported with a radula built to grind meat and slime mat matter or develops an jaw/beak.
4. Develops a Respiratory system with probably gills to allow the tubes to be more efficient.

But that just my 4 ideas for our possible sex vote on my end.

Vote: Develop primary digestive system that will allow the tubes to digest meat more easier and allow our hatchlings to digest the meat from the host.