Radioplankton are tiny, free-floating, carbon-based algae that inhabit sub-categories of Gas Giant planets called Gas Giants with Water-based Life and Gas Giants with Ammonia-based Life. Unlike some other alien species, radioplankton cannot be directly observed, and are only known to exist through the text descriptions on System Maps.
There exists a rare variety of free-floating radioplankton that can fluoresce as a result of interacting with the intense radiation of gas giants and glow bright green, causing the parent gas giant to become a Green Gas Giant.
Description
Gas giant with water-based life. This is primarily a hydrogen and helium based atmospheric gas giant, but not far below the surface exists life based in the water-cloud layer just below the atmospheric surface. The chemistry of this gaseous region is far from equilibrium, with a surprising excess of oxygen and many carbon-based compounds giving it some vivid colors. As with many such gaseous living systems, it is underpinned by vast quantities of free-floating radioplankton - tiny carbon-based algae, each retaining a small quantity of liquid water, extracting their energy from intense radiation flux.[1]
Locations
Some Gas Giants with Water-based Life that support radioplankton are listed below.
