Shoggoff Tiem

Arcella and Difflugia are amoebas that live inside tests, building a shell around themselves to protect them from... things. They reach their pseudopods outside to draw in prey and move themselves around.

A lot of young animals, especially sea animals, have radically different lifestyles as juveniles.

The Eltdown Shards are pottery shards that contain an inordinate amount of information about shoggoths. They appear to proscribe to some bizarre type of pot, almost fluid in its make.

Super space geneticists could easily make creatures that print their own information on their skin or are programmed to do so in their tests, so an elder thing worker could tell the difference between a food animal, a lab animal, or heavy laborer. At least until the test is no longer needed and the adult animal breaks free of its "pot."

Baby shoggoths make pots. The Eltdown Shards are shoggoth tests...? Hooray!