Reef Koyuxerus

==Appearance==
This subspecies of Koyuxerus is has a wider back than its relative while it keeps the general height. Reef Koyuxerus is covered all over with several coral life forms on tail, upper legs and claws, while it carries a miniature reef on its back. Certain Endemic Life inhabit this biotope on its back and are visible from time to time. The red upper claws are smaller than the ones its cousin has, while the claw finger is larger and longer. The Carapaceon's red tail is shorter but wider at the tip. As the whole body is covered in colorful coral life forms its actual coloration is mostly left unnoticed apart from the legs, which also have red spots. The thick limbs also have big spikes at the most outward part of the upper segment while less, and smaller spikes below. Apart from the visible red Reef Koyuxerus' shell is actually a dim dark grey hue.
===Morphs===
There are two different morphs of Reef Koyuxerus. They are:
*A morph covered in pink, orange and red reef life forms usually trait of males.
*A morph covered in violet, blue and green reef life forms usually trait of females.
==Habitat and Ecology==
Reef Koyuxerus are found within coral colonies and their surroundings roaming around the sea ground like in the Frantic Bay and Submerged Boneyard, and almost never comes to the surface. The Carapaceon has the habit of gathering corals, anemones, sponges and other sessile creatures, which it picks up with its claws perfectly formed for holding, and rearranging them on itself and in the surrounding area. The ones it likes the most are added to its own coral reef on its back. The monster tries to be as careful as possible so it doesn't break them by accident. The material on its back is ideal for corals to latch on and it is protected by the host so they thrive quite well. Other inhabitants of the reef like Fish Endemic Life come when the reef has reached a certain size.
The main source of food for this Carapaceon is algae, but it often protects corals from predators by simply devouring them, yet this happens quite rarely. The monster feeds on the side while searching the perfect corals for the reef on its back and rearranging them to optimal spots for them to grow in the surrounding. This behavior gave Reef Koyuxerus the title Reef Constructor although it was assumed to do the exact opposite before researching it closer. When the Carapaceon gathered enough parts for its reef and lived through a mating season, it usually buries itself into the sea ground to sleep for quite a long while. During that time the only thing it does is shedding growing bigger until it needs to gather more corals for its back. This is the cycle every Reef Koyuxerus follows.
SImilar to its cousin, Reef Koyuxerus grows its whole life. The subspecies seems to have a naturally longer life span and becomes also larger than the regular Koyuxerus. Due to the corals on its back the ecdysis proceeds differently, the Carapaceon has little rifts on its back which can be broken open more easily when shedding begins. The rest stays similar to the point of the tail keeping a part of the exuvia at the end, forming the same rings with which you can determine the age of the monster. The maturity ecdysis is later in the life of this subspecies though, as males have it at four years and females at five years of age. Each ecdysis takes place with a longer interval in between as well, every twelve months Reef Koyuxerus sheds its shell changing the calculation of age a bit.
Besides its normal feeding habits the Carapaceon needs to ingest a lot of calcium to provide the corals on its back with. It does that by feeding on its own exuviae as well as devouring dead coral skeletons and even bones of carcasses it find, if necessary. Reef Koyuxerus doesn't seem to harm any living creatures apart from the ones it devours from time to time to protect corals unless threatened. The exuviae, like the ones of its relative, are quite sought after by collectors and fetch a high price in the market. The exuvia sometimes gets left behind when a threat appears before it could devour it so sometimes hunters get hired to cause this, which is now strictly forbidden by the guild. Only naturally left behind exuviae are allowed to be taken.
There are several Endemic Life forms, some even just found there, living on Reef Koyuxerus' back. The Carapaceon utilizes them in battle if necessary, holding the Poison Urchin and Paramone in its scissors, while the Perplexomera and the Lamdrain help it on their own accord. All the creatures that live on its back are capable of emitting a stress signal to the sleeping Carapaceon if in danger, waking it up. As the shedding takes place while its main body is underground, this stress signal is usually the cause for it to abandon the shed before eating it. The cause is rarely dangerous enough to the monster itself, but the act of emerging from the ground sometimes attracts the attention of a bigger threat. If a appropriate danger appears Reef Koyuxerus flees, abandoning the spot, and searches for a new sleeping place.
Males and females prefer differently colored corals and other sea creatures to put on their back. Males are more fond of pink, orange and red, while females search for violet, blue and green colors. Besides the size this is the main distinguishing feature between the sexes, even though rarely other colors as well as the colors of the other counterpart can be found on individuals. In mating season, when two Reef Koyuxerus encounter each other, they examine the other and when both like the color coordination of their conspecific they will mate with each other. The fertilized eggs get placed carefully on the mother's back by the father and hatch there eventually. The young Carapaceon live on the back of the mother, receiving their first coral from her, using the colors to camouflage themselves. The mother will look out for them and give them food by putting it on its back, while the father already went back to sleep. Sometimes weaker individuals on the back of the mother get their food stolen, so they leave the mother earlier to search for food, but usually the adolescent Reef Koyuxerus stay on her back until they reach a certain size. After that the female goes back to sleep until the cycle starts again.
===Interactions with other Monsters===
Predators:
Young Reef Koyuxerus, especially subadults, have many predators but due to the care of their mother a good amount survive the most dangerous time. The bigger the Carapaceon becomes the fewer threats are there for it, yet it keeps its distance on any potential predator without engaging them.
Symbiosis and other harmonious relationships:
Like its relative, Reef Koyuxerus has Endemic Life living on its back, but instead of just one species several different Endemic Life can be found there. The four most prominent that also help the Carapaceon in fights are the Paramone, Poison Urchin, Perplexomera and the Lamdrain but also other creatures like Kuku can be found on its back or in the surrounding area it cares for. Especially the corals on it as well in the surrounding area are reliant on the monster as it tries to protect them and improve their life conditions the best it can.
===Turf Wars===
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==Abilities==
Like the regular Koyuxerus, this subspecies likes to attack in rhythms, but it's slower and more powerful than it. Reef Koyuxerus uses claw and tail slams, strikes and swipes but also uses claws to pinch and cut more, as well as grabbing smaller targets. The bubbles it produces in its mouth inflict waterblight. As the fight takes place underwater, it is actually quite different from its terrestrial counterpart. In spite of its low agility on the sea bottom with its wide tail it is quite adept at swimming and can hit high swimming hunters that provoked it unsuspectedly.
Unlike its relative though, this monster doesn't rely on its elemental powers, it only uses the bubble attack for water damage. Instead it uses the abilities of the Endemic Life that lives on its back to enhance its own. Reef Koyuxerus can wield Paramones and Poison Urchins in its claws and shove them against an opponent to inflict the status effect the respective Endemic Life utilizes. The Carapaceon can also grab a Paramone in one hand and a Poison Urchin in the other. The monster can also call Perplexomeras and Lamdrains with different sounds to attack as well. Catching them from its back decreases the amount it is able to use them.
==Attacks==
On the Sea Bottom
#Claw slams: Identical attack pattern as the regular Koyuxerus.
#Claw swipes: Similar to the version of its relative but instead of doing only two swipes, Reef Koyuxerus chains four swipes before it jumps back. Can be chained to other attacks.
#Claw drums: Identical attack pattern as the regular Koyuxerus.
#Claw strikes: Similar to its relative, but it is able to chain up to eight strikes and changes direction after every two strikes.
#Groundbreaker: Reef Koyuxerus smashes its claws repeatedly on the ground until it's half-buried and then it throws a rock from beneath the ground by lifting up its claws rapidly. Inflicts waterblight.
#Claw smash: Like its cousin the Carapaceon puts both of its claws together, lifts them up and smashes them into the ground. While Reef Koyuxerus also uses this to end of combos or at specific moments in the theme, it can actually repeat the attack once, but it will delay the execution. The resulting scattered chunks of the ground inflict waterblight.
#Pinching attack: The monster extends one of its arms in an attempt to pinch the opponent.
#Pinch smash: The Carapaceon pinches an opponent like in the previous attack and then follows up with a claw smash attack. When the pinch was successful, the target gets held and smashed into the ground.
#Pincer attack: Similar to the pinching attack but Reef Koyuxerus takes a swing and then reaches forward to grab a hunter. It then proceeds with a claw drum attack with the victim in its claw. Then it tosses the caught hunter away.
#Grab: The monster lightly bumps the ground with both of its claws and then takes a swim with one of them to grab a small opponent. The grabbed hunter gets damage with every claw attack it does while they're in its grasp. Either button mash, a sonic bomb/pod or dung bomb/pod will free them from this attack.
#Paramone wield: Reef Koyuxerus lifts one of its arms to its back and grabs a Paramone. Each of the attacks with its claws will cause paralysis damage. After a while it puts it back to the spot it took it from.
#Poison Urchin wield: Same as the previous attack but with a Poison Urchin. Each of the attacks with its claws will cause poison damage. After a while it puts it back to the spot it took it from.
#Endemic Life throw: Very rarely when it's in Rage Mode, Koyuxerus throws the held Paramone or Poison Urchin at an opponent. This causes the respective status effect that the Endemic Life causes.
#Perplexomera call: The Carapaceon stomps both front legs on the ground and lets out a blubbering call which makes a Perplexomera appear. The Endemic Life releases its confusion powder into the water in front of the monster.
#Lamdrain call: Again similar to the previous attack but the sound is different. This attack summons Lamdrains which aim for a target and then spear towards it. When the target dodges, the Endemic Life disappears, else it latches onto the victim and sucks there blood, inflicting the Life Drain status effect. The victim gets inhibited in movement but can free itself the same way as with Giggis and they disappear. If skilled enough a hunter can also catch them with the net before they hit. The amount of Lamdrains summoned equals the amount of hunters in the same area.
#Tail slams: Identical to Koyuxerus.
#Tail strike: Same as its relative but it is able to do this attack a second time in the opposite direction.
#Poison Urchin throw: The Carapaceon puts both claws up to its back and throws four Poison Urchins at the ground. When stepped on they inflict Poison. After a while they burrow into the ground and disappear.
#Charge: Reef Koyuxerus faces its target and runs towards it while holding its claws together in front of it striking them down alternately to the rhythm of the theme. At the end it usually chains a claw slams attack.
#Bubble launcher: Similar to Koyuxerus bubble launcher but it's shorter, yet wider. Reef Koyuxerus doesn't move around while using it on the ground.
#Jump up: The monster crouches down to then jump up. This starts the swimming phase.
#Claw swipe and jump: It does a claw swipe attack but only executes two swipes before jumping up.
While Swimming
#Claw swipes: Similar to the ground version, but the movements are more exaggerated and reach further to the sides.
#Claw swipe tackle: The claw swipe attack but only two swipes before the monster tackles into the target with a tail flap. Opponents behind it get minor damage when hit by the tail flap.
#Horizontal rotating swipe: Reef Koyuxerus takes a swing with one of its claws behind it and then swipes it all the way around horizontally. The repressed water can inflict waterblight.
#Vertical rotating strike: The Carapaceon lifts both of its claws and then strikes down with them and makes a full rotation vertically. The tail strikes down as well after a half rotation. Usually used as an attack to end a combo. The repressed water can inflict waterblight.
#Punch: The monster takes a swing with one of its arms and punches forward, then does the same with the other claw and then again with the first.
#Pinching attack: Same as on the ground.
#Grab and throw: Reef Koyuxerus reaches forward with its claw, grabs a small opponent and then throws it either against another target, a wall nearby or at the ground.
#Perplexomera heaven: The monster calls Perplexomera while lifting its right claw forward. Three Perplexomeras swim above the targets directly, a little on the right and a little on the left of it and releases confusion powder directly above a hunter. When a certain distance was reached, the Endemic Life release the powder there and return to the Carapaceon.
#Tail slam: Reef Koyuxerus lifts up its tail and strikes it down and a little forward under it. The repressed water may inflict waterblight.
#Tail swipe: The monster bends its tail to one side and swipes it over to the other side. The repressed water may inflict waterblight.
#Supercrab charge: Reef Koyuxerus faces a far away opponent, extends one arm forward and charges fast with mighty tail flaps towards the target. Before being done it punches forward with its claw at the opponent.
#Bubble launcher: The Carapaceon releases bubbles in its mouth and then launches a beam in a spiral in front of it, inside out. May cause waterblight.
#Drop smash: The monster puts its claws together in front of it, lifts them up and strikes them down while letting itself sink to the ground.
#Pinch drop smash: Reef Koyuxerus takes a swing with one of its arms, reaches forward with it and grabs an opponent. Then it chains the drop smash attack inflicting a high amount of damage.
==Notes==
*The weakness is aether, then thunder.
*In Rage Mode it huffs bubbles and the color of the tail gets darker.
*When exhausted Reef Koyuxerus' tail drags limply on the floor and it searches for dead corals or a carcass to feed on.
**It will fail to use the bubble launcher attack.
*The different morphs don't give different materials.
*The rhythm that the Carapaceon adapts to depends on the theme that plays, as it has no own theme, different areas and the arena will cause the attack rhythm to differ from each other.
**When the monster is in Rage Mode the theme actually accelerates to fit its increased speed.
*While catching off Endemic Life from the monsters back when it is unprovoked is a valid strategy to weaken its abilities, capturing too many will make it turn on the hunter doing that.
*The reefs on Reef Koyuxerus back, tail and upper legs are quite hard and protect if from damage, when they are broken, these parts become weaknesses. They are more vulnerable to impact weapons.
**The broken off corals can be repaired by the Carapaceon when it gathers them at certain spots of the map.
*The corals on the legs on each side, the back twice and the tail can be broken off, each claw can be broken, the back, the legs on both sides as well as the head can be damaged and the tail can be severed.
**Repairing the reefs doesn't heal the breaks or the damage to them, it only protects them from danger another time. The makeshift coral armors are less durable than its initial one though.
**When the legs on a side are damaged, it sometimes stumbles when turning quickly.
==Materials==
Reef Koyuxerus Claw (when broken), Reef Koyuxerus Shell, Reef Koyuxerus Tail (when carved), Koyuxerus Leg (when damaged), Koyuxerus Jaw (when head damaged), Reef Koyuxerus Coral (when back damaged)