Adults have a pod-like, circular gray body divided into four quadrants, each of which contains an elongated hole. A black foot at the bottom of the body enables slow movement across land. This foot is covered in minerals that act as armor against predators. During reproduction, the body ruptures along seams to reveal long, vibrantly-colored, fleshy petals.
Red tippers spend most of their lives in shallow, warm coastal waters or on beaches. As an adult, their petals will often be above water while their body is submerged, depending on the height of the tide. Red tippers can migrate between land and water to regulate temperature or avoid turbulent waves.
Red tippers are carnivorous during the spore stage. Their spores attach to small creatures, and use an unknown toxin to paralyze the prey as microscopic structures absorb the nutrients from its incapacitated body. As an adult, a red tipper extracts micronutrients from the ground using a “mouth” under its foot. They also consume macronutrients and small organisms from flood waters through the pores at the base of the body.
Red tippers reproduce asexually. An adult produces hundreds of spores, which develop inside the body, along the length of the sealed petals. These spores erupt from the body as the petals open and enter the airstream to be dispersed by wind. A red tipper uses chemical and physical cues to to time the release of its spores with the presence of prey. A red tipper produces many spores because most will fail to land on prey and will perish.
A successful spore will consume its prey and then attach to the sandy or rocky ground. There, they will spend their adolescent and adult lives, growing in size until they can produce spores of their own. After maturing, a red tipper will reproduce once per Phygarian year.
Red tippers have evolved spores with aerodynamic spikes that reduce drag and enable them to disperse easily by wind.