Abyssaluki

Splitting from its ancestors, Phantomukis living in the deep trenches of Sagan 4’s oceans were subject to the effects of deep sea gigantism. This was caused by their environment having few predators, and their size allowing for more efficient respiration.

The Abyssaluki are sluggish detritivores which live at the bottom of Sagan 4’s twin oceans. Their lower tentacles have expanded, giving them a similar appearance to the horns of Marine Fraboo. These horns are used to comb through the seafloor for edible detritus and marine snow, using tiny hairs along them to pick up and pull food towards the mouth. Abyssaluki can also use their mouths to scavenge upon the sunken carcasses of pelagic fauna, such as Lyngbakrs and Hafgufas.

Because of their large size and chitin-armored bodies, adult Abyssaluki have very few predators. However, predatory swarmers, like the Mortusyte, will attempt to bypass the Abyssaluki’s armor by attacking their soft gills. In order to defend themselves, Abyssaluki can retract their gills and pull their chitin segments together, blocking off access to all but the most persistent predators. Their horns remain exposed to attack, but are able to heal quickly from injury. Raised horns can be used to scare off potential predators, making the creature seem larger than it already is.

Possessing smell receptors along their mouths and horns, Abyssaluki can detect sunken carcasses and potential mates from miles away. They have adapted a hermaphroditic reproductive system due to their vast environment and relatively small population size. When two Abyssaluki encounter each other, the two individuals will spar with their horns, and the individual with the larger horns will be the winner. The winner will fertilize the loser's eggs, who will then deposit them along the winner’s gills. The winner will then defend the eggs until they hatch by pulling them in with their gills when attacked by predators, scaring them off with their large horns.

Once the eggs hatch, the young Abyssaluki will enter their first stage of life. Possessing a small body, they are very lightweight and can float in the deep sea water column while navigating by flapping their disproportionately long horns. Young Abyssaluki horns are soft and flexible, and are used to filter plankton from the water. They will live like this for several months, but over time their bodies will grow and begin to become heavier while their horns will become more rigid. Eventually, they will become so heavy that they will slowly sink to the ocean floor. This lifestyle has allowed Abyssalukis to spread wherever deep ocean currents carry their young, scouring the lightless abyssal plains throughout Sagan’s oceans.