While much of Allun's eastern half is defined by its colossal, deep, and fast flowing rivers, gentle streams and stagnant bodies of water spring from these raging rapids into their own.
Silt hermits, as they are called, are ambush predator that lie and wait amongst the benthos in plant choked waters. A flat, wide and rugged body helps them blend into the river and pond floors covered in rotting vegetation.
An attack is swift, and prey is often bisected by the long and powerful jaws of the silt hermit. These jaws may at first seem to bear interlocking teeth, but in truth, these are bladed extensions of the ramphotheca forming an almost dental appearance along the jaws. Their true teeth are peg shaped and tiny, lining each side of the jaws in packed rows.
The noxious silt hermit, the representative depicted, is of a clade of silt hermits which have evolved a remarkable defense mechanism. The spikes found in the rest of their kin in their case are hollow and each housing small venom glands at their base. A predator that bites or any other unlucky animal that steps on them is then treated to a hefty dose of venom that triggers excruciating pain and partial paralysis.
