𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖒

Species Overview

As pictured above, guardians are extremely large, predatory creatures, although they are generally docile unless provoked. Guardians possess effective counter-shading, a flexible body, partially translucent fins, and a large frill on their skull. Due to roaming the deep sea for a large portion of their youth, they have very poor eyesight.

Lifecycle & Hunting Behaviours

Almost immediately after hatching, a guardian will begin hunting in the murky depths of their nesting grounds, which can be found in volcanic ocean trenches. Because the surrounding area is so dark, this species has evolved to use echolocation. Until they get big enough to school together and ascend to the shallows, they feed on microorganisms, shellfish, and crustaceans.

Juvenile guardians make a dangerous journey to shallow waters once lifeforms in the trenches can no longer sustain them. Together, they form a pod of no less than 7 individuals. The importance of this specific amount of juveniles travelling together is not yet understood. Once they reach sexual maturity, the guardians split from their pod and begin establishing their own territory.

Adult guardians primarily consume large, mollusk adjacent invertebrates which burrow into sand or corals for shelter. Using their shovel-like frill while pressing their bellies against the sea floor, they disturb the sediment and utilize echolocation to see underground. After the guardian locates its prey, it emits a low frequency vibration in its throat that is powerful enough to shake the burrow and drive the invertebrate out of hiding.

Guardians are also opportunistic, scavenging from large kills that have been abandoned. They may challenge one another over a body, but rarely stand up to other similarly sized carnivore species.

Mating rituals and end of life practices are yet to be observed.

Echolocation

At first glance, the rings atop a guardian's head may look like eyes. These rings are actually organs that the guardian is capable of rapidly dilating and constricting at will, producing an ultrasonic frequency that allows the guardian to "see" its surroundings more clearly. A guardian's eyes and beak are actually located underneath its frill and are not pictured in the reference image.

Given that their rings resemble eyes, it's also a useful defense mechanism that discourages predators attempting to ambush the gaurdian from above.

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