The Challenger Cephalopod is the tentative name of a aquatic creature native to the planet Challenger.
Biology[]
A large blue cephalopod creature that propelled itself through the sea by jetting water from its syphon. It was regarded as one of the major predators of the seas of Challenger. It had a mantle that was ten feet long from its rear fins to its beak. Using its skin which could change color, against the rock, the cephalopod could sneak up on prey without being discovered. The squid also had poison sacs, that when ingested by other creatures, would cause blood poisoning, brain poisoning, bouts of extreme aggression, organ shut down, paralysis and then death. The color of its blood was purple.
It had six arms that were thirty-two feet long and made of pure muscle that were capable of crushing the skull of of a sixty foot Iron Whale. It was only only other creature in the sea that kept the iron whales from achieving the rank of apex predator.
The cephalopod preferred smaller prey though, lurking in the reefs near the western hemisphere islands, where it fed on fish, lobsters, sea-mantids, and other species of squid as it had no morale consideration for where protein came from, even practicing cannibalism with its own siblings. It was a hunter predator, feared by other sea life, that preferred to use the environment of the jagged sea mountain area to hide and patiently ambush prey. Using its body against bigger prey, the cephalopod normally constricted its prey to crush it.
However against a Caesar Crab, the cephalopod was an easy meal as it was one of the few creatures on Challenger which could withstand its crushing embrace. Crabs were also aware these squids possessed poison and took great care to remove their sacs from the bodies before consuming the meat.
Source[]
- Caesar: A Military Sci-Fi Thriller by Michael Cole