Tentacle Crystal
Tentacle crystals diverged as octocrystals expanded northward into the Vailnoff Ocean. There, they found a much less populated environment, largely free of predation and without the environmental rigors of the polar ocean.
Owing to the lack of predation, it was no longer as important to protect the fungal core under the photosynthetic plates. Roots often became exposed; more significantly, each side developed an opening through which the fungal layer could take in nutrients from the open ocean. Repurposing their ability to grow roots, feeding tentacles grew through these openings, bedecked with small feeding hairs of their own, allowing the tentacle crystals to supplement their diet by filter-feeding microorganisms.
Many of the octocrystal's adaptations to colder weather were no longer necessary. It no longer kept as tall a height, and its chitin layer became much thinner. It also lost the ability to become dormant.
As they moved to less seasonal climates, they no longer synchronized their reproduction by time of year. However, synchronized spawning was too useful to give up. Instead, they release chemical signals at intervals, slightly varying the cycles until they sync up, so that individuals in near populations will all release spores at the same times.
They also retain the overall shape of their ancestors.