Idioomid

Idioomid is a fictional taxon used in speculative biology and worldbuilding to describe a class of mobile, multicellular organisms noted for a decentralized, distributed nervous system and high degrees of behavioral plasticity. The name is formed from the Greek idios, meaning personal or distinctive, and -oid, meaning resembling, signaling a form that emphasizes individuality within a collective.

They lack a centralized brain; neural tissue is spread throughout the body in a mesh-like network. Individuals achieve coordinated action through local interactions, chemical signals, and electromagnetic cues. Sensory organs are distributed, and they respond to environmental changes by remodeling tissue rather than relying on a single control center. Their metabolism is highly flexible, allowing survival in variable nutrient environments.

They reproduce both sexually and asexually through fragmentation and budding; life stages include a sessile juvenile form and a mobile mature form, with growth often conditioned by seasonal factors. The absence of a centralized nervous system is complemented by rapid, local decision-making across multiple body regions, enabling coordinated movement and adaptation to changing conditions.

In fiction, idioomids are described across diverse habitats—from forest floors and subterranean caves to tidal zones. They are typically depicted as resilient and capable of rapid colonization, occupying ecological roles such as scavengers, pollinators, or mutualists. Their distributed nervous systems are used narratively to explore themes of swarm intelligence, individuality, and collective behavior.

No real specimens exist; idioomids remain a speculative construct within science fiction and worldbuilding. See also speculative biology, swarm intelligence, xenobiology, and worldbuilding concepts.