Kirkrokinkor

## Kirkrokinakor zaxkrzi

Status: NT

Temporal Range: R.140 - Present (Gammavian Stage of the Atroxian)

Habitat: Temperate Shallows, Temperate Upper Ocean

Distribution: Southern Hemisphere

Niche: Predator

Size: 12.8cm (length)

Nutritional Worth:

Predecessor: Stellingus coetus

Classification: Kirkrokinakorinae (sf), Thanostomidae (f), Flagracauda (so), Caudomorphii (c)
Perception: Decent vision with no depth perception on either side.

Latest Mutations: Better Eyes = 5, Hearing = 2, Fins = 6, Better Musculature = 5

Info: This species is an active hunter with decent eyes to spot prey, a range of fins include pectoral fins and a ribbon along the top and underside of the body, and a more muscular physique. However, it cannot hunt at night or in any poor visibility because unlike every other Caudomorph that has existed up to now, it has no electroreceptors. It is dependent entirely on sight. When threatened, they can lock the rays of their pectoral fins so they make themselves difficult to dislodge from hiding places.

Anatomy: It has a mostly cylindrical body tapering to a whip-like tail with two sharp, poisonous spines and a ribbon of skin along the top and underside of the body. A pair of pectoral fins can be retracted into a groove on the flank but can also be locked. The skin has blue pigmentation. Just behind the front on each side are three gill slits. On each side of the head is an eye and the cartilage jaw contains two venomous fangs surrounded by conical teeth with sharp cusps. Strong jaw muscles power the jaw.

The cartilage jaw is not connected to the cartilage backbone, which protects the two nerve cords as they branch out from the brain into a network of nerves. A duct from the mouth leads into a simple stomach. In the center of the body is a swim bladder. It has quite a lot of muscles.

Behaviour: This species is capable of processing information gathered from sense receptors and using that to form a picture of its surroundings. It can then respond to stimuli. When mating, which they only do in Late Spring, they will return to the shallows.

Discoverer: Biologicah

## Kirkrokinakor kzaxyiyasosay

Status: CR

Temporal Range: R.144 - Present (Gammavian Stage of the Atroxian)

Habitat: Temperate Shallows, Temperate Upper Ocean

Distribution: Southern Hemisphere

Niche: Predator

Size: 12.8cm (length)

Nutritional Worth: (9.9 x 12.8 =) 127NP

Predecessor: Kirkrokinakor zaxkrzi

Classification: Kirkrokinakorinae (sf), Thanostomidae (f), Flagracauda (so), Caudomorphii (c)

Perception: Decent vision with no depth perception on either side.

Latest Mutations: Spatial Awareness = 6, Hearing = 4, Spines = 5

Info: The main visible characteristic of this species is that it has a back lined with thin spikes, made of the same material as the toxic tail spines. They are not toxic, but sharp and the dorsal fin has to be made higher to accommodate this. This provides some protection from predators, although it's has few; its most useful at protecting the young. It has other adaptions, such as the ability to hear given by the cilia along the flank. This helps it track down moving prey, especially in the shallows. Furthermore, it has amazing spacial awareness, helping it to better launch attacks on its prey.

Intelligence / Behaviour: Processes information and responds based on fixed behaviours. It knows to eat and avoid being harmed. When mating, which they only do in Late Spring, they will return to the shallows.

External Features: It has a tapering body with blue pigmentation, lined with high dorsal and ventral membranes and two spines on a whip-tail. A multitude of thin spines cover all over the dorsal portion of the body. It also has pectoral ray-fins that can be fitted into a groove. The thin skin layer has a line of acoustical cilia on the flank. The mouth is surrounded by odour receptors and contains conical teeth with sharp cusps and fangs. It has two pinhole eyes on the side of the face.

Internal Features: Migmachordatix toxin is produced and secreted into the tail spines. Three gill slits sit each side of head. The muscles on each side are attached between the body wall and the cartilage vertebrae. The mouth is supported by a muscular cartilage jaw. The gastrointestinal tract from the mouth has a stomach with digestive juices followed by intestines leading to the anus. A brain, with an added lobe for spatial awareness, encased in the head connects to two nerve cords which branch into a network of nerves. A swim bladder is in the middle. It hosts both male and female gonads. It has a hemacoel cavity - an open circulatory system - that has red blood containing hemoglobin, although a dorsal vessel pumps blood to the head. Protonephridia collects and expels waste through pores.

Discoverer: Biologicah