nest with the egg case buned deeply below the surface of the sand At this stage of development (schizontal) the zygotes un derwent an asexual cell division producing a spongiform merozygospore containing thou sands of future larvae The merozygospore ruptured releasing the sandtrout The sandtrout were efficient water scavengers They trav eled hundreds of kilometers through the sand seeking out water joining their bodies with one another to transport the water back to the nest site Many of the nutrients required by the sandtrout were breakdown products contributed by the female body The sandtrout produced exoenzymes which digested the nutrients to fragments absorbable by the larvae As the sandtrout brought water to the nest site it mixed with the excretions of the larvae to form the pre spice mass The chemis try of the reactions has not been determined, however it is known that C02 was evolved and built tremendous pressures withm the mass When the pressure built sufficiently there was a powerful explosion often termed a spice blow All of the products of the pre-spice mass were brought to the surface of the sand, where the action of sun and air rapidly changed the pre spice to melange Again the bio-chemical process is unknown During the * blow many sandtrout m the immediate vicinity were killed Most schol an, agree that the cell walls of these dead larvae were the source of the ammo-sugars in melange The chemical reactions dunng the spice blow triggered changes in the surviving larvae stimulating them to join their bodies in a premetamorphic stage At this point, changes in metabolism began so that the combined larvae became similar to the adult worm Water gradually became toxic and rudimen tary autotrophy developed The premetamorphic stage consisted of joined sandwormb each capable of metamor phosing into an individual sandworm segment The metamorphic process took over 1 050 years One segment differentiated to become the head segment with teeth, and another differentiated into the reproductive segment Posterior segments were relatively undifferen tiated and could reverse the metamorphic SHAIHULUD 455 SHAI HULUD process to become sandtrout if environmental conditions were unfavorable to the adult worm Most commonly this latter occurred in the presence of water The juvenile form of the worm was nei ther male nor female This small (20 to 30 meters long) form of the worm was captured by the Fremen for drowning to produce the spice essence for their spice orgy Most of these juvenile worms became females The stimulus for development of a male is not known One theory holds that subtle changes m the environment due to the absence of an adult male triggered the formation of a male, but this is not proven Each male worm had a territory of 300-400 square kilometers which he defended against intrusion by another male Fights between two males rarely ended in death The protsgmsts used their teeth to hook the nng segments of the opponent, open