Sand Shark

The Sand Shark is an aggressive life form belonging to the fauna category.

It dwells mostly in the Grassy Plateaus and Dunes.

Appearance
The Sand Shark's body is segmented and their dorsal side is completely covered with an exoskeleton, having a steel blue upperside and a dull orange underside, with a brief gap where the Sand Shark's muscle can be seen. Short legs appear in two rows of twelve on its underside, used to dig in sand and support.

The Sand Shark's head features four yellow eyes, which are divided into sets of two on each side, and a large fin-like protrusion on the top. It has a rather large mouth having six rows of sharp, jagged teeth.

Behavior
The Sand Shark prefers to stay close to the sea floor, rarely wandering near the water surface. As its name implies, the creature tends to burrow into the sand and waits for unsuspecting prey to swim by for an ambush attack. When it does so, sand clouds start to form more and more dense in the surrounding area.

Once its prey, or the player themselves, has approached close enough, the Sand Shark will emerge from the sand and chase them.

However, if the player can reach to the surface, the Sand Shark will break off the chase and return to its previous location.

Data Bank Entry
A segmented exoskeleton makes this a slow but powerful predator. The rows of feet on the lifeform's underside are ill-designed for ambulation - instead they are used to disturb the surface of the sand so the lifeform can burrow into the ground, from where it may ambush its prey.

Prey: Herbivores up to twice its size

Assessment: Avoid suspicious sand clouds

Gallery
For a more complete gallery, visit Sand Shark/Gallery.