Zarlarnns

Zarlarnns are a fictional, eusocial marine invertebrate described in speculative literature and worldbuilding corpora. A zarlarnn colony comprises sterile workers, specialized soldiers, and a single reproductive queen. Members communicate through coordinated bioluminescent displays and low-frequency acoustic pulses. Morphologically, zarlarnns have a gelatinous body with a segmented carapace along the dorsal surface and eight tentacles equipped with photophores for signaling and prey capture.

They inhabit deep-sea trench ecosystems on the fictional world of Othara, living among hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The colony relies on symbiotic bacteria within its tissues to harvest chemical energy and cultivates microbial mats on mineral substrates as a food source. Zarlarnn colonies are usually anchored to solid surfaces by mucous threads and extend networks of living tissue to optimize nutrient uptake.

Social structure is highly organized: workers forage, tend brood, and maintain the colony; soldiers defend the perimeter and deter predators; the queen concentrates reproductive duties. Reproduction occurs periodically in response to vent blooms; clutches are brooded by workers and hatch into caste-adjusted juveniles that mature within the colony. Colony success depends on synchronized signaling, resource sharing, and collective risk assessment.

Zarlarnns have appeared in multiple worldbuilding texts and sci-fi media as a symbol of collective intelligence and interdependence. The term zarlarnn (plural zarlarnns) is used to denote this colony-centric life form, and discussions often address xenobiology, communication, and bioengineering inspired by their signaling systems.