Squidshark

The Squidshark is an aggressive fauna species that will be featured in Below Zero.

Appearance
The Squidshark has a bulky yet streamlined body, tapering to a point at each end and lacking a tail fin. It utilizes countershading to help it remain camouflaged, with a dark blue dorsal side and a greyish-white belly that lets it blend in with the ice/sky above when viewed from below, and the dark sea when viewed from above.

A large shark-like dorsal fin is situated around one third of the way down the back with four drastically smaller fins running in a line behind it. It has two very long pelvic fins around half the length of the entire body with two translucent blue tendrils beneath of them. There is an extra fin sitting on top of the head.

The Squidshark's mouth has an odd structure; six flaps of skin close together creating a face that tapers to a point, however these flaps can open to expose a jaw that protrudes outwards from the mouth and has seventeen long black tooth-like structures to capture prey items. Its eyes are small and black with a rectangular pupil that oddly is red in color, behind each is a siphon.

Design
The Squidshark is a large predatory species that fills a similar ecological niche to sharks on Earth. It takes design inspiration from cephalopods and sharks, specifically the goblin shark for the protruding jaw. Just behind the eyes are a pair of hollow tubes that appear similar in appearance to the specialized siphons of octopuses of Earth known as a hyponome that they use for jet propulsion.

Gallery
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