Among the three great ancestors,
Those ancient processors,
Spiralius was most conservative,
His ways preservative.
He fished with tentacles long,
As fathers had done strong.
The ancient art he kept alive
To help his children thrive.
Great Spiralius worked each day
In his diligent way
To provide for children all
Who answered duty's call.
Among his many sons of fame
Two earned eternal name:
Bold Kimberella the king
And Gnathifer's ring.
Kimberella earned his fame
Through his eternal name.
His tomb is visited today
By pilgrims on their way.
The greatest king was he
Of his time's dynasty.
His kingdom moved with might
Across the steppe so bright.
A billion years of fame
Belongs to his great name.
On Australian stamps today
His image holds its sway.
But Gnathifer chose a different path,
To show his righteous wrath.
A kingdom small but quick
He built with cunning trick.
Like Ectus he could see
The need for weaponry.
A great jaw he built with care
From chitin strong and fair.
A sugar jaw so sweet
For sugar treats to eat,
But though his jaw was sugar-made,
His heart was not so stayed.
With ferocious jaws so bright
He brought the fearsome sight
To sons of Isomeres
Throughout their territories.
In old age from his loins
Came two, like ancient coins:
Bold Gnathos, fierce and wild,
And Hydrover, gentler child.
Gnathos was vicious
More than malicious.
His sons are known today
As Jaw Worms in their way.
But Xenognath was different,
Though still belligerent.
He grew jaws within jaws,
Against all natural laws.
Fifteen jaws in all he made,
A fearsome masquerade.
Each jaw within the last
Held prey both firm and fast.
From Xenognath came two sons:
Bold Marinus, who runs
The seas with might and main,
And Limnos of the rain.
Marinus fought and fought
For all that could be caught.
Dominion of the sea
Was his priority.
But Limnos was cast out
From the ocean's route.
Into the rivers sent,
His kingdom there was bent.
The sons of Marinus mock
Their freshwater flock:
"Small jawed ones," they call
Their cousins one and all.
From Marinus came two more:
Rotiferus to explore
And brave Amisquius,
Bold and glorious.
Rotiferus looked around
And peaceful living found
Among Kimberella's line,
Their ways both good and fine.
He turned to fishing once again,
Like his ancient kin.
His sons became the nomads true,
The Rotifers we view.
In all waters they roam,
Making everywhere home.
Great fishermen are they
From night until the day.
He built his coelom loose
Like Ectus let loose.
This gave him speed and grace
In every watery place.
In rotifer villages
They practice their privileges.
Fishing with their wheels
For all their daily meals.
But among his sons there was
One who broke the laws.
Acanthus the red, so base,
A parasite's disgrace.
He lives in others' guts
And steals like greedy nuts
The food that should belong
To those both right and strong.
Such thievery brings shame
To Rotiferus' name.
A black sheep in the fold
Whose story should be told.
But from Amisquius came
A line of greater fame.
Each generation grew
Jaws bigger through and through.
In Nimrod Bristletongue's time
Their power reached its prime.
They ruled the seas with might,
A fearsome, awesome sight.
More numerous than all
Who answered ocean's call,
The Arrow Worms became
The hunters' greatest name.
The greatest hunters ever seen
Beneath the ocean green.
Their jaws could catch and hold
The bravest and the bold.
Through waters dark and deep
Their vigil they do keep.
No prey can swim away
From their hunting display.
The conservative path
Sometimes shows its wrath
In children who rebel
And stories they do tell.
Spiralius kept the old ways true
But his children grew
In many different directions,
Making their selections.
Some stayed with fishing pure,
Their methods tried and sure.
Others chose the warrior's way
To fight another day.
From tentacles to jaws,
Following nature's laws,
Each lineage found its place
In evolution's race.
The rotifer's gentle art
Of fishing warms the heart.
While arrow worms show might
In predatory sight.
Both trace their lineage back
To Spiralius' track.
The conservative way
Led to diverse display.
In every freshwater pond
Where rotifers respond
To plankton floating by
Beneath the morning sky,
Remember their ancestor
Who was fishing's protector.
Spiralius kept the art
That gave them their start.
In every arrow worm
That makes the sea fish squirm,
His heritage lives on
From dusk until the dawn.
The three great patriarchs
Left their lasting marks
On all life in the sea
Through all eternity.
But Spiralius shows us well
That traditions tell
Important truths that last
Through future and past.
Innovation has its place
In evolution's race,
But keeping what works true
Is wisdom through and through.