Coral Crab
An enormous crab (tentatively *Ostrakonskelos anaktoraphore*, hard-legged palace-bearer) that hides among coral domes.
Overview
An enormous crab (tentatively *Ostrakonskelos anaktoraphore*, hard-legged palace-bearer) that hides among coral domes.
BioMods unlocked by scanning
Scan this species with a Bio Scanner at the Biolab to register its genome. These biomods will then appear for research.
About 380 m east of the Life Pod in a hydrothermal transition zone. Exit your vehicle to wake the crab. It also drops feces usable for food crafting.
- Water RetentionUnlock guide →
Gameplay attributes
From this species' InitialAttributes gameplay effect asset.
AI profile
PDA Analysis
1. Crablike body plan
Forelimbs rake and dig for food which is collected by long soft maxillipeds (food handling limbs) around the mouth. The crab must molt to grow.
2. Coral dome
A living coral dome, cut from its holdfast and worn. It provides camouflage, protection, and perhaps a nursery for the crab’s young. Are they married to a single dome, or are domes traded as they grow?
3. Implicit predator
Defenses and behavior imply the existence of a predator powerful and dextrous enough to shuck the crab from its dome and crack its heavy armor.
4. Viral activity
Genome contains large repeated retroviral inserts, including nerve growth factors and shell pigments. Molecular clock suggests they were recent introductions. Cells on the crab’s back contain large segments of the coral dome polyp’s genome.
5. Large brains
The coral crab has no spinal nerve braid. A large brain above the eyes manages senses and behavior planning, while a secondary nerve cluster controls the legs and digestive system.
6. Seafloor communication
Coral crabs drum on the seafloor to signal to each other. Claw-clacking is likely a sign of intense excitement or agitation. Some Earth crabs seek desirable partners to pair with prior to molting, a behavior known as ‘handholding’. Finding a similar behavior on this world may be emotionally rewarding.
7. Signs of ecological stress
Mineral deficiencies and fungal infections imply environmental stressors.
Assessment
Distribution
- CG - North Raceway7
Related Creatures
More entries from the same ecological slice.
Bluemoon
Databank entry coming soon.
Bullethead
, the armored squid dart. A swarm predator that attacks by ramming and penetrating its prey. Capable of *Caught script hook in allocated memory for command >> generate-databank "Bullethead" >> echo \memory-carve -signature=0xSEABEEF5 >> restore-databank* "I saw their eyes first. Bright yellow eyes, down the inside of the lava tube. I killed the motors and the floods, signaled Iso and Mel to grab the handholds, and held my breath. For a minute I thought we'd ride clean through. Then the current pulled the Tadpole into an outcrop and at the sound they all just—went off. Like bottle rockets. Back and forth, up and down, everywhere. One of them lodged in the port hull just aft of the canopy and I saw, very clearly, that it was a squid, completely plated in armor. They hit you tail first, hard enough to punch into titanium. Incredible. Do you think they run on compressed air? Or do they burn something? The hull alarm went off — I tried to blink the floods to confuse them — but Mel and Iso's blackboxes were already crying. The noise seemed to attract them. Apparently they like to get stuck in wounded prey and wait until you bleed to death, then go to work on your carcass. So by the time I got back to Habitat there wasn't much left of Iso and Mel for Iso and Mel to recycle." —Tsewangiin "Ruby" Anar, "When I Didn't Die"
Cerathecan
"Our PDAs point to organisms like the cerathecan and exclaim 'behold: the road not taken'. On Earth, seed shrimp are tiny slime-dwellers; on Proteus they grow huge. But just as easy life in our decontaminated bases deafens us to the call of Proteus, easy analogies blind us to the truth. The map from Earth is not only wrong, so is its basic dogma. Evolution does not follow roads here." —Anita Gottschall, *The Way Away Home* *Exile cerathecan*, the horn-cupped exile. A mysterious carnivore and deposit feeder with no clear Earth analog except the tiny ostracod (seed shrimp).