For a long time it was theorized that life could not exist on the northern side of Aquarius III. The lack of an ozone layer and atmosphere would leave it constantly exposed to cosmic and solar radiation, especially if fissures caused by earthquakes cause light to leak in down to the water below. Yet, after the establishment of a second sea lab on the sunny side of Aquarius III, the Poseidon was sent to investigate large thermal readings coming from what may have been a dying volcano. Catching themselves in a current, the Poseidon resurfaced into a strange new world they came to call the Saproling Caverns.


Origins
There are many ideas on how these caverns came to be. One that most agree with is erosion of limestone at key weakpoints in the stable limestone mountainside pushed water into the mountain, causing it to dig a decent sized hole. The emergence of unique oxygen producing plants sent breathable gases rising up into the current and into the cave, creating an air pocket with immense air pressure of about 1.13 ATM. As water drained out and more life was attracted to the warmth of this zone, new types of living creatures began to emerge from the water, and 2 million years later(According to the Poseidon's Carbon dating), the saproling caves have given birth to some of the most unusual forms of invertabrate life. The temperatures and atmosphere in this little cavern make it suitable to actually take off vacuum suits and walk around safely. But it's advised to wear some protection as some dangerous creatures lurk in Saproling Caverns, along with high amounts of spores and molds for those who are at risk of suffering from allergies.

Plant life
In the many years of evolution, life here has evolved to a variety of invertebrates, including mollusks, echinoderms, anthropods, and even fungi. The most common life form are the Lightcaps, fungi that absorb moisture and airborne biolumiscent plankton and bacteria, giving it is glowing appearance. Then there are the hissing stools, poisonous fungi that have high amounts of chemicals and air inside of it. Attempting to swallow one is like eating a 9mm hangun going off in your jaws. They usually are found near water sources and tide pools, where moisture and food is often found drifting by. Much like all fungi, they reproduce by shooting out spores into the air and eventually finding someplace to land on.

Of course, there are the more carnivorous fungi. There are the spotted goopers, which stretch out their tentacles in the air to trap small morsels with tiny barbs. As tough as they are, the only real threat they pose to larger life forms is slowing them down.

Then there are the Balcony Hangmen, fungi that grow on the walls and spreading out their multiple mouths across pillars of limestone. Secreting a special adhesive to help them stick onto slick surfaces, they emit an aroma that attracts smalls flies into their pitchers, sucking them in soon after with small tiny teeth that push them to its stomach in the center, where they're eventually digested.

animal life

There's plenty of diversified life in the Saproling caverns. Some of its more advanced life forms have developed a habit of feeding both on the fungi, plankton, and each other.

The largest of these creatures is the Bananashroom Slug. Measuring at 4 feet in length(speculated to grow even longer than that), these behemoths feed entirely on lichens and fungi. It's well developed sight allows it to see well in the dark, using its feelers to smell food from as far as 500 feet away. Spores often catch on its back while its feeding, resulting in fungi developing all over and feeding on its body. Despite this parasitic behavior, however, there is a symbiosis in effect. the poison that the slug devours is fed into the fungi, making the spores they emit off their bodies highly toxic, and the slug has full control of where to shoot them. So while the slug provides them food, the fungi on its back provide it protection.

Another such species of mollusks is the Horned Trumpet, a medium sized snail about a foot in length. Withdrawing into their spike shell when in danger, these creatures love the taste of the mouths of a Balcony Hangmen. The mouths always grow back after a while, so it never runs out of food. The evolution of a spiked shell is strange, as the Horned Trumpet seems to have few predators who feed on it, unless there are other things in the cave that are not known about, though it is speculated that they have a few run ins with Knuckled Crabs.

Two species of anthropods who seem to be distant cousins of the ironhide crabs are the ferocious Hissing Cave Spider and the Knuckled Prawn. The Hissing Cave Spider, having a much softer body, is much faster than its cousin, and moves horribly fast, using its strong sense of smell and ultraviolet vision to find its way around the caverns. They are omnivorous creatures, feeding on both plants and animals alike, including themselves. The act of cannibalism itself has been witnessed not only during courtship, but during fights over territoriality and food shortage. They too, are poisonous, releasing a nerve toxin with a potency much like that of the blue ringer octopus. When encountering a possible threat nearby their cobwebbed dens, they'll stand on their back legs and emit a hissing sound, warning other predators to stay away from it.

The Knuckled Crab, a distant relative of the Hissing Cave Spider, is far from territorial or dangerous. They will tolerate being picked up for a while before they start banging their knuckled pincirs on the gloves, signifying they want to be let go. These giant adapted legs were made with the intent to ward off predators and even breaking the shells of possibly monsters like the Horned Trumpet. Very poorly visioned, they rely large on their sense of smell and touch to find their way around, looking for rotting corpses to feast on with their tiny mandibles. Because they are garbage feeders, it is worried that they carry a large number of infectious bacteria and viruses from the corpses they've consumed. Be sure to wear your suit on airlock mode if you're going to carry one of these around.

Last but not least in this list of creatures, there is the Cave Tick Fly. While cannibalistic as adults, these pale insects do more than eat each other for sustenace. When mating, they look for unsuspecting creatures and sting them with an anesthetic that knocks them out while they inject them with both its sperm and eggs, then flies away to die. After two weeks of incubation, the eggs hatch and the larva begin to eat the creature from the inside, eventually killing it. The flies, after eating enough food to sustain it, will then go into a chrysallis stage and emerge as new cave flies, ready to start the cycle all over again.

The possible end for the Caverns

According to readings that determine how deep this cavern goes in the mountains, the cavern is about 925.76 feet deep into the mountain and covers an area of about 2 cubic m and has stood for over two million years, but there's concern to how long it'll last. As air pressure continues to build, the cavern may start to crack and cave in, or water gets pushed further back, resulting in unstable fissures and radiation leaks from the surface. Even a seismic earthquake risks damaging this fascinating yet fragile cavern, and if the mountain is breached, then everything in this cavern will be frozen instantly or sucked out into the vaccum of space. It's estimated that within the next 3,000 years, this cavern will no longer exist and eons of evolution will have been wasted.

But scientists also speculate even if this were to happen, the oxygen producing plants would still exist, producing more and more air to poor into the planet's nonexistent atmosphere. Who knows? Perhaps in a few million years, an atmosphere will develop for the planet,.

More data will arise as time goes on. Until then, enjoy this long essay of new data gathered on Aquarius III