HOOKJAW HERMIT - paguroidea nerka 

Defining the borders of the great Shale Flats and hidden Chiton, the Brittleclaw Mountains rise high into the sky. Among pale blue peaks, springs of clear water bubble from deep within the rocks and feed into a winding river system that leads all the way to the western sea. These glistening waters hold life of all varieties, and tucked between the roots of rock-fruit trees and flowing mountain kelp, one species in particular alters the lives of all who live among the Brittleclaws. The full cycle takes about twenty years. Hatching in the shallow mountain pools, high above the clouds, the Hookjaw Hermit starts life about the size of an apple. The soft shelled hatchlings are vulnerable, and easy pickings for predators. From river eels to even other hookjaw young, the young crabfish have plenty to hide from. Littering the pools, rock-fruits that have fallen from trees above make excellent shells for the hermits. The soft flesh within the fruit has rotted away, leaving a hollow sphere of stone, split open and ready to be inhabited. Most scholars assume these trees are why ancient hookjaws chose these mountain pools to spawn over any other location - over the course of the twenty year cycle, plenty of fruit will fall to the water below, their rinds the perfect starter shell for a young crabfish. Then, a great journey begins. Out of the pools, into the rivers, down the mountains, and out to the coast. The hookjaws let the water carry them in this time, ready for a rich life at sea. And there they stay for decades, eating, and growing. One hermit can go through over one hundred shells in its lifetime, each shell originating from a huge variety of different species living amongst the seas of The Continent. After twenty long years, the mating season begins, and the usually peaceful life on the coast erupts into mayhem. Lumbering from the waters, the hookjaws begin a pilgrimage, up the mountains to the very pool they spawned in. This time however, they won’t be swimming. Great armoured legs carry the beasts up the mountains, through villages, trampling crops, farmers and anything else caught under the rising red tide of carapace and scales. In this time, the females become high value targets for poachers. Swell with eggs, each the size of an apple and sweet as honey, many are hunted during the run. But for each female hunted for the prized roe, countless hunters are lost to the snapping claws of protective and hormone frenzied males.  Those that survive the run find their way to the pool that they hatched in, so many years ago. After mating, the hookjaw hermit's life comes to an end. The hulking giants come to a peaceful end, surrounded by familiar waters. Their bodies rot away, feeding the roots of the rock-fruit tree, leaving behind their shells nestled amongst the regalia of their ancestors. Next spring, the young will hatch, and a new generation will follow the river, out to the sea. A problem for twenty years from now, I would imagine…

(still rendition)

Other creatures of The Continent:

SPECULAR SAILFIN (MAKAIRA TINCTUS)

SLATE NAUTILUS (RASA TESTA)

HALLOWBAT (VESPERTI SPECULUM)

Sketches

Spectember 2025 Day 30: Eobasilosaurus giganteus

What would mosasaurs look like if they have evolved to become baleen whale-like filter-feeders?Already towards the last 20 million years of the Cretaceous, from the Turonian to Maastrichtian stages, these aquatic cousins of monitor lizards were reaching the peak of their evolutionary diversity following the extinctions of the icthyosaurs and giant pliosaurs. Some of them such as Globidens and Platecarpus were specialized ammonite or fish eaters, some such as Mosasaurus hoffmani and Tylosaurus proriger were giant apex predators, and others such as Megapterygius and Plotosaurus developed large flippers and even small dorsal fins and were highly specialized, fast-moving pelagic or open-ocean hunters. But had the Cretaceous-Palaeogene extinction event never occurred, the shapes and sizes achieved by the mosasaurs might have been even greater, and some of them could become the largest marine animals the world has ever known.

HEY! Do you guys like squid biology? creature headcanons? cool art? well BOY do I have the document for you~~!

It is with great pleasure to show off this absolute chonker of an art/writing project; The Mollusc Era! BEHOLD, MY MAGNUM OPUS!

In this document I go over the intricacies of various cephalopods; Inklings, Octolings, Cuttlings and even the Nautilus! The entire study is illustrated by yours truly, so there's plenty of pretty pictures to gawk at as well as pages upon pages of my concentrated autism ramblings to pour over if that's also your thing. Enjoy!