Ashki (0110 Lishun A89A533-D): Ashki is a water
world, the home of the so-called electric algae, which are neither algae
nor normally electric. They are scavenging amoebae with a blue-green pigment;
its function is quite different from chlorophyll. In stormy weather the
copper-based pigment collects static charges as lightning strikes the water.
When charged, the amoebae group themselves into colonies of many strange
shapes, held together by intertwining of the individual cells' cilia. The
tendrils of these colonies shock fish with accumulated charges and thereby
enrich the feeding ground of decaying matter on the shallow sea floors
where the amoebae live. -lis
TD 6