Maelstrom Ghark

With such a wide range of diversity open with so many species geologically-recently extinct, the abyssal ghark was able to split into a new species, which then moved to less intense oceanic pressures. Coming to be known as the Maelstrom Ghark, this move to newer waters allowed them to stop competing directly with their ancestors, and both succeeded in surviving. However, they now exist in competition with the dark giant shovelheads, and therefore have adopted a slightly different strategy than them in order to properly thrive.

The major evolution of the maelstrom ghark was the strengthening of muscles around their mouths. This increase in muscular mass allows them to utilize a new technique of feeding: they will close their mouths entirely, usually during the swallowing process, and once ready, will open their mouths at an amazingly fast speed, up to one-fortieth of a second. This creates a sudden pocket for water to fill, which rushes in at full-speed, creating a vortex that sucks anything in that water in with it. Once their mouth is full of water they close it, while their gills kick into overdrive and squeeze out the water as quickly yet as efficiently as it can. At this point the maelstrom ghark swallows what remains, and then proceeds to open its mouth again. Their caudal fin has been strengthened by an extension of bone at the base of each end of the fin itself, in a design reminiscent of the creatures like the frigidsnatch.

Because they are in competition with the dark giant shovelheads, they often can be found swimming down to the sea floor, where they use their sucking power to suck up large amounts of substrate, which its gills are built to properly handle straining out. This helps in their existence, as they have to rely somewhat less on floating creatures filtered out of the water.

Their diet includes centifins, trapinout, deep trapinfilter, dark swarmers, spoisoreth, krillpede, tentacled urphish, and any and all microorganisms that they happen to swallow as well. It does not eat the deep urchip due to having a difficult time navigating around the shrubite to find them and suck them off cleanly. While they can consume malakommalis, they can be affected by it as well.