Chondrichthyes

Chondrichthyes, also known as the Cartilaginous Fish, are a faction that has been around for aound 450 million years. These builds have specced into a cartilaginous skeleton, earning them the faction's moniker. This feature is actually respecced, having evolved away from their Placoderm playerbase. These includes Shark builds, known as powerful BM builds and gatekeepers to the higher tiers, Rays, which are adapted for benthic playstyle, and Chimaeras, which are deep-sea generalist builds.

## History

### Beginnings (Early Sharks)

Cartilaginous vertebrates first evolved from acanthodian mains in the middle Devonian. There are two subclans, the Holocephali, and the Elasmobranchii. They were often persecuted by the placoderm mains during The Devonian Expansion. As time passed, builds like Bandringa, the first build to be able to switch between freshwater and marine servers, and the Xenacanthids (like Orthacanthus), which specced into a spike to protect themselves from gankers were playable.

### The Sharks that weren't (Eugenodontids ,Symmorids and others).

The megaguild Paraselachimorpha includes the builds that specced into Shark-like strategies, but which were actually chimaeras. Most popular of these are the Eugenodonts (builds with buzzsaw teeth) and the Symmorids (comparatively plain builds which specced into aestethics). Along with them also comes Flying Gurnard analogues (Iniopterygiformes) and wildcard builds (Petalodontiformes).

### Cladodont Ctenacanth Craze

The ctenacanths were a Shark guild that included builds like the Manzano Ctenacanth, Kaibabvenator and Saivodus.They specced into a cladodont dentition and spines, much like the aformentioned Cladoselache. They had a good run, lasting from The Devonian Expansion right untill the early Cretacous, before they got banned.

### Hybodont Chronicles

The Hybodonts were a generalist Shark guild, originating from The Devonian Expansion but lasting into the Miocene. They are the second Shark guild to take advantage of freshwater servers, Xenacanthiformes being the first. Many of these builds specced into a similar playstyle to current-meta horned sharks, but with much higher stats. Others specced into two types of teeth, enabling strategies against many different builds at the same time.

### The Carpenters(Sawfishes and Saw Skates)

No story of the Cartilaginous Fish class would be complete without mentioning Sawfishes and their distant relatives, the Saw Skates. Onchopristis is a giant sawskate main from Africa, which probably has to watch out for builds like Spinosaurus mains. This prehistoric sawskate main has barbed saws. However, similar to modern Sawfish mains, they go to freshwater servers to deposit their respawn points and complete the main quest. In the current meta, their playerbase is threatened by demand for the [Shark Fin Soup] food item as well as for their saw, which makes a deadly Spacing weapon.

### Lamnids ATTACK!

But of course, the best Shark mains, both in legacy and in the current meta, are Lamnids. These builds debutted during the Jurassic Expansion. But they simply reached their heyday in the Cretacous, with builds like Macrorhizodus, Leptostyrax, Cardabiodon, Cretoxyrhina and even the scavenging Squalicorax. But it is after the Cenozoic, after the ban of the Dinosaurs, that the most OP Lamnid, as well as the most OP Shark and non-tetrapod build, the Megalodon, became playable. Lamnids are still playable today, from the powerful Great White Shark and Mako Shark builds, to the tail-slapping Thresher Sharks, to the filter-feeding Basking Sharks and Megamouth Sharks, as well as the abyssal Goblin Shark mains and even the Sand Tiger Shark mains. The reason for the success of these builds lies in how they specced into [Heat Exchange Circulatory System].

## Notable Builds

Hammerhead Shark (S)- A Shark build with a peculiar head shape.

Great White Shark (S)- One of the most powerful Fish builds in the game.

Giant Freshwater Stingray (S)- A powerful freshwater Ray build with a piercing stinger.

Sleeper Shark (S)- A Shark build that speccs into unpalatable meat and resistances.

Tiger Shark (A)- A requiem Shark build which can eat almost anything.

Mako Shark (A)- The fastest Shark and also one of the fastest builds in the game.

Manta Ray (A)- A filter-feeding tank build with insane regeneration abilities.

Bull Shark (A)- A Shark build that can enter and dominate freshwater servers without much counterplay.

Sawfish (A)- A Ray build that speccs into a saw snout.

Atlantic Torpedo Ray (A)- The largest electric build in the game.

Sand Tiger Shark (A)- A build with the ability to gulp air.

Sixgill Shark (A)- One of the most widespread Shark builds.

Short-tailed River Stingray (A)- One of the few obligately freshwater members of this faction.

Blue Shark (B)- A requiem Shark build which plays in pelagic servers.

Goblin Shark (B)- A build with an extra-long snout and a slingshot jaw attack.

Thresher Shark (B)- This build uses its tail to smash schools of Fish.

Porbeagle Shark (B)- A Shark build that plays in cold servers.

Angel Shark (B)- A Shark alternative to Rays.

Spiny Dogfish (B)- A Glass Cannon with poisonous spines.

Wobbegong Shark (B)- A camouflaged reef Shark with tons of unique abilities.

Shark Ray (B)- A skate build also known as a mud skate.

Cookie Cutter Shark (B)- A Shark build that decided to go for a parasitic playstyle.

Chimaera (B)- A deep-sea generalist build.

Zebra Shark (C)- A carpet Shark build popular in aquariums.

Frilled Shark (C)- A smaller and frilled relative of Sixgill Sharks.

Whale Shark(C)- The largest playable Shark build.

Basking Shark (C)- The temperate counterpart to the Whale Shark.

Megamouth Shark (C)- A deep-sea filter feeding build.

Starry Skate (C)- A small Skate build that spends much of its playtime on the bottom of the sea floor.

Nurse Shark (D)- A carpet Shark build known for sucking in prey.

Saw Shark (D)- A Shark build that specced into a saw snout.

## Gallery

The base stats for the Hammerhead Shark.The wide assortment of Mackerel Shark builds.The outdated base stats for the Manta Ray.A Stethacanthus.The base stats for the Onchopristis.Kaibabvenator vs Great White Shark.Whale Shark compared to a Human main.User:Andikito123's sketch for the Chondrichthyes faction!Close-up of a Basking Shark.Megalodon compared to a Human being.Close-up of a Megamouth Shark.The overwhelming diversity of Shark builds.

## Referrences

1. ↑ https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/basalfish/chondrintro.html?ref=Klasistanbul.Com
2. ↑ https://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/animals/vertebrate-zoology/cartilaginous-fishes
3. ↑ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200907112329.htm
4. ↑ https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/basalfish/chondrolh.html
5. ↑ https://www.aquarium.co.za/species/entry/short-tail\_stingray
6. ↑ https://www.sharktrust.org/chimaera
7. ↑ https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/research-posts/new-study-confirms-sharks-ancient-ancestors
8. ↑ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/obl4he/vertebratediversity/chondrichthyes.html
9. ↑ http://animaladay.blogspot.com/2012/08/cladoselache.html
10. ↑ https://www.scientificamerican.com/gallery/extinct-freshwater-sharks-that-spawned-in-saltwater-had-been-mistaken-for-separate-species/
11. ↑ https://wtf-triassic.tumblr.com/post/190932577639/xenacanthus
12. ↑ https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/474870
13. ↑ https://fossil.fandom.com/wiki/Eugeneodontida
14. ↑ https://www.megainteresting.com/science/report/prehistoric-sharks-the-kings-of-the-sea-921580133210
15. ↑ https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/scientists-name-godzilla-shark-first-discovered-in-new-mexico/
16. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254237970\_Ctenacanthiform\_sharks\_from\_the\_Permian\_Kaibab\_Formation\_northern\_Arizona
17. ↑ https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/shark-fossil-saivodus-striatus.htm
18. ↑ http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/evolution/ancient.htm
19. ↑ https://shark-references.com/post/582
20. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/animal/chondrichthian/Evolution-and-classification
21. ↑ https://www.jstor.org/stable/1304274
22. ↑ https://zims-en.kiwix.campusafrica.gos.orange.com/wikipedia\_en\_all\_nopic/A/Xenacanthida
23. ↑ http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/evolution/origin\_modern.htm
24. ↑ https://www.thoughtco.com/overview-of-hybodus-1093672
25. ↑ https://incertaesedisblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/18/onchopristis-is-a-sawskate-not-a-sawfish/
26. ↑ https://www.earthtouchnews.com/discoveries/fossils/this-huge-ancient-sawfish-had-harpoons-on-its-face/
27. ↑ https://prehistoric-life.fandom.com/wiki/Onchopristis
28. ↑ https://www.sharks.org/blog/blogs/science-blog/a-nose-by-any-other-name
29. ↑ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-46081-3
30. ↑ https://www.pnas.org/content/116/41/20584
31. ↑ https://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/megalodon.html
32. ↑ https://chondrichthyes.fandom.com/wiki/Lamniformes
33. ↑ https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=mPFjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=lamnid+success+warm+blooded&source=bl&ots=0oZfOM2I5x&sig=ACfU3U11uDOpupuS3lzfh\_RRdzSL3mnEZw&hl=xx-bork&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2jqKL25TyAhXJxGEKHV91CFgQ6AF6BAgHEAI