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DemonicManchot — Eryobean squid, or is it?

#conodont #squid #jawlessfish #speculativeevolution #speculativezoology #worldbuildingspecies #eryobis
Published: 2021-10-09 09:45:10 +0000 UTC; Views: 15694; Favourites: 200; Downloads: 6
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Description "...When we first set sail to collect and catalog marine fauna in the seas of Eryobis, we had no idea what to expect. After many days of catching, analyzing and observing, we captured many species of fish, crustaceans and even some marine insects, but we were surprised to find that there were no cephalopods among our catches. Which was... weird, actually.
Genetics gave revealed that most species on Eryobis diverged from their Terran relatives somewhere in the early Jurassic and we know for a fact that there were cephalopods swimming around in that time."

"On the last day of our expedition, just as dusk began to fall and we were about to leave, I saw something in the deep. The silhouettes of conical shaped creatures with two big fins on one end and multiple appendages on the other. Could this be? A squid at last? And even though they appeared to be swimming in the wrong direction, I figured anything was possible keeping in mind what other strange animals live here."

"As by law, anything we saw, we had to collect and catalog, no matter what the cost. But the squids kept their distance while there was still light. So we figured that like with squids on Earth and other colonies, we had the best chance of catching one after dark. We set out our traps and nets, as diving in the dark was a little too scary for us, and waited for one to take the bait..."

"Several hours must have gone by, as it was only after midnight that we finally got one. Instantly awakened from our naps, we started pulling up the net as quickly as possible. It went surprisingly easy, the animal wasn't struggling at all. Full of excitement, we pointed all our lights at the net as it was pulled out of the water. But inside, well, was no squid. It remained still, until the moment a flashlight met its eye. Then all of the sudden the creature started thrashing around and with its razor-sharp teeth, it cut through the net and fell on the deck. Here it began thrashing its body even more violently. As one of our team members tried to subdue it, with a single sideways motion, the creature chopped of his right hand and slit his throat with its teeth.
Blood flowed everywhere, covering the entirety of the deck and as the creature was still jumping around... we had no choice but to kill it. After multiple missed shots, we finally managed to stab it in the eye with a harpoon. As our team member had bled out, his hand separated on the floor, we got the chance to take a better look at this monster."

"It had a smooth skin, no scales at all, yet it was surprisingly thick and leathery. Seven gill slits lined up behind its large eyes. It has two large fins at the back of its body with several finlets in front and behind it.
Lining its mouth were ten whisker-like appendages and then finally, the mouth itself. It was absolutely horrifying to look at. Four huge tooth-plates lined the edge of the mouth, all of them independently movable from one another. Looking inside the mouth was like staring into hell. Many tooth-plates were located in the mouth, several rows of teeth of different shapes and sizes lined its maw like gears in a machine. All were rotatable, most were extendable."

"Later research would point this creature out as a Conodont, a kind of jawless "fish" that went extinct in the late Triassic. So as of yet, no squid have been found on Eryobis..."
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Comments: 15

Gaeldoge10 [2024-07-14 10:31:19 +0000 UTC]

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BluegirlWoomy [2023-11-16 02:26:11 +0000 UTC]

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John903775 [2023-10-30 09:13:07 +0000 UTC]

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Crazyartlover21 [2023-02-18 15:06:46 +0000 UTC]

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Myszow [2022-02-23 21:54:04 +0000 UTC]

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DemonicManchot In reply to Myszow [2022-02-24 09:30:52 +0000 UTC]

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Myszow In reply to DemonicManchot [2022-02-24 13:00:38 +0000 UTC]

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DemonicManchot In reply to Myszow [2022-02-24 15:34:11 +0000 UTC]

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RreKuh [2021-12-20 04:53:19 +0000 UTC]

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TheSirenLord [2021-11-26 19:31:55 +0000 UTC]

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DemonicManchot In reply to TheSirenLord [2021-11-26 23:41:26 +0000 UTC]

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Inmyarmsinmyarms [2021-10-09 17:21:32 +0000 UTC]

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DemonicManchot In reply to Inmyarmsinmyarms [2021-10-09 18:17:14 +0000 UTC]

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BobsicleG [2021-10-09 11:03:09 +0000 UTC]

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CosmicPosthumanz [2021-10-09 10:40:28 +0000 UTC]

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