Armaloctra

**Armaloctra** are Carapaceons first introduced in ***Monster Hunter Odyssey***.

## Physiology

Armaloctra is a uniquely bizarre creature, even among the strange fauna of the Scorched Barrier. On first glance, its body is reminiscent of shrimps, being elongated and armored with several plates. However, the monster posesses three pairs of limbs, four legs and two long, flexible pedipalps. In addition, it lacks a caudal fin at the end of its tail, instead featuring a unique structure with a large stinger, a fan consisting of three segmented fins on either side, and several photophores on top. Some have likened this structure to a demonic visage. Its carapace is of a deep marine blue with green speckles, which slowly fades into a deep scarlet on its tail and underside. This color overtakes most of its body when enraged. Its head possesses two flexible mandibles and a pair of large eyes.

## Behavior

Armaloctra is solitary and territorial towards most other creatures, including humans. It will attack once encroached. When not hunting, Armaloctra spends its days wandering through the desert, digging dens into the rocks and coral to rest in and hunting down prey. Young Armaloctra have been observed sliding down hills and dunes, seemingly trying to ram each other while doing so. Whether this is instinctual or the young monsters do this for fun is yet to be answered. Armaloctra is mostly diurnal, and will retreat to hideouts within the crevices of the dead Coral Reef of the Scorched Barrier at night.

## Ecological Information

### Placement in Food Chain

Armaloctra places at the top of the food chain of the Scorched Barrier as the area's Apex Predator. It is exclusively carnivorous, feeding on most other creatures of the Barrier, such as Ramaizu, Pukei-Pukei and young Rathian or Monoblos. Armaloctra themselves have no natural predators but are known to cannibalize smaller members of the species. However, that does not mean they are not killed by other creatures, as adult Monoblos will try to take the Carapaceons down as quickly as possible to secure their territory and off spring.

### Behavior towards other Monsters

Armaloctra is highly territorial towards most other monsters and will attack quickly should they come to close. While most creatures get attacked straight away, Armaloctra will oftentimes try to fend off foes such as Monoblos or other, larger Armaloctra by lifting its tail and flashing its photophores, moving side to side and hissing loudly. Against Monoblos, this tactic is basically useless, as the flashing colors and static movements make the wyverns even more agitated.

### Tracks

Armaloctra leaves behind various tracks. These include footprints, carcasses and impact prints.

### Specific Locale Interactions

Armaloctra does not have any Specific Locale Interactions.

### Special Behaviors

When left alone, Armaloctra can sometimes be observed drooling a foamy substance from its mouth which it uses to clean its pedipalps. Additionally, once it reaches the open areas of the Scorched Barrier, it will start moving over the dunes through sliding.

## Abilities

The underside of Armaloctra's pedipalps are covered in small openings and fine bristles. The openings secrete a volatile fluid produced within the creature's claws, which is then rubbed by the bristles, causing it to explode. Depending on how much fluid is secreted, this reaction can range from small puffs to massive explosions. Its legs also feature this adaptation but have far less openings, meaning the fluid they secrete only suffices for smaller bursts. Armaloctra uses these bursts to consistently propel itself forward across large open spaces, using the fan-like structures on its tail like a sail on a speedboat to change its direction. Meanwhile the explosions caused by its pedipalps are used as a weapon against opponents, as it violently thrashes and smashes them around when threatened. The stinger at the end of its tail is often used to inject a direct dosis of the fluid into opponents, which can lead to a combustion of the liquid, resulting in similar effects to those seen on the prey of Brachydios.

## Rage and Tired States

* **Rage State**: Armaloctra's entire body will take on the scarlet color of its tail. It gets faster and more aggressive, as well as gaining a handful of new attacks.
* **Tired State**: Armaloctra will start drooling a foamy substance. Its sliding attacks, not unlike Mizutsune and Tigrex, will result in it toppling and falling over.

## In-Game Description

### Behavioral Patterns

* **Aggression**: Aggressive - Armaloctra will initiate combat as soon as it spots the player
* **Intelligence**: Base Value of 16/20 - Minimal Value of 9/20
* **Diet:** Carnivorous - Meat Traps are most effective on Armaloctra.

## Ecology

### Taxonomy

* **Kingdom**: Animalia
* **Phylum**: Arthropoda
* **Class**: Malacostraca
* **Order**: Decapoda
* **Family**: Arachnocaridae
* **Genus**: Arachnocaris
* **Species**: A. magnificus

**Name Meaning:** Magnificent Spider Shrimp

Armaloctra is a member of a rare and unique family of decapods known as "Arachnocaridae", or Spider Shrimps, which is only found in the Menocharian Archipelago and other remote marine land-masses. As of now, Armaloctra is the only species of the genus *Arachnocaris* which gave the family its name.

### Habitat Range

Menocharian Armaloctra can be found exclusively in the Scorched Barrier. The Parumean Subspecies has been observed around the shores of the Lonely Island.

### Ecological Niche

Armaloctra is the undisputed Apex Predator of the Scorched Barrier. Mostly terrestrial, it tends to avoid water, as it is slow and mostly defenseless, due to water neutering the effects of its explosive fluids. This makes it easy prey for aquatic predators such as Lagiacrus. On land, it fears no competition, as the only other creature able to hold its ground against it, is Monoblos. Armaloctra feeds on most smaller creatures of the Barrier.

### Biological Adaptations

Unlike most other desert predators, Armaloctra's colors are not at all adapted to camouflage the creature. In fact, its vibrant hues and vivid patterns make Armaloctra quite easy to spot from a distance. However, it makes up for this by being faster than any of the creatures it preys on through the use of its explosions, with which it can reach speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour over mostly flat surfaces. The only monster capable of escaping it by other means than flying is Ramaizu, as the Piscine Serpent can either dig away or outspeed the vicious predator, even if just barely. Additionally, Armaloctra's carapace is exceptionally resistant to both heat and impact, obviously to prevent itself from suffering injuries caused by its explosions. Interestingly, Armaloctra's eyes are extremely complex, able to move independently and seeing a wider range of colors than even humans. This adaptation helps the Carapaceon see camouflaged prey in the sands, such as Ramaizu.

### Social Behavior

As aforementioned, Armaloctra is largely solitary in nature, but generally not aggressive towards conspecifics unless hungry. During mating season, the smaller males will often compete for larger females by performing dance like motions or clashing each other with their tail. Their bright colors also come into play in these rituals, as bright and vibrant colors are a sign of youth and power. After mating, the female and male will retreat to nesting grounds in the damp caverns below the Barrier, where the female lays a batch of eggs. Meanwhile, the male goes out hunting to keep her fed. After the larvae have hatched, she will expel a nutrient-rich fluid containing certain chemicals to preserve the nutrients for extended amounts of time, into the water, which the larvae will feed on until they are large and developed enough to leave the water and hunt smaller creatures for themselves.

## Breakable Parts and Damage Effectiveness

### Breakable Parts

* **Head**: Scar across the cranial plate. Its ability to ignore effects that hide the player is disabled.
* **Claws**: Some of the bristles are broken and the carapace is scarred. Slightly lowers its sliding speed and explosion damage.
* **Tail (Break):** Shattered Stinger. Lowers range and explosion damage of its tail stinger attack
* **Tail (Cut)**: Disables Tail Stinger Attack and lowers range of all other tail attacks. Additionally causes Armaloctra to fall over after sliding, as its unable to properly balance itself.
* **Legs (2x):** Scars across the legs. Reduces sliding speed.

### Physical Damage Effectiveness

 Body
 Claws
 Legs
 Tail

### Shiny Item Drops

* Blast Oil
* Detonator Oil

### Material Drops

* Armaloctra Shell
* Armaloctra Shell +

## Carves

* Low Rank
* High Rank

## Appearances

* **Monster Hunter Odyssey** by **Spino**
* **Monster Hunter Maelstrom** by **Dino0310**

## Notes and Trivia

* Armaloctra is based on *Anomalocaris*, Sea Spiders, Scorpions, Mantis Shrimps, the Ushi-Oni Yokai and the Pokémon Armaldo.

* It is the first Carapaceon concepted for **Monster Hunter Odyssey**
* Its name origins can roughly be translated to "Armored Trap Shrimp"