Crashfish (Subnautica)

• Fauna
• Item
• Egg

Crashfish
Category	Carnivores
Tab	Fauna
Inhabit	Sulfur Plant
Attitude	Defensive
Health	25
Damage	Explosion: Varies depending on distance
Drops	Cave Sulfur
Perks	Very good weapon (with propulsion cannon)
Biome	Kelp Forest Caves Safe Shallows Safe Shallows Caves
Debug Spawn	crash

Crashfish
Category	Fauna
Description	Explosive prey fish, raised in containment.
Acquired From	Crashfish Eggs
Size	4 (2×2)
Debug Spawn	crash
Bioreactor	560

Crashfish Egg
Category	Eggs
Description	Crashfish hatch from these.
Acquired From	Crashfish
Size	1
Biome	Kelp Forest Caves Safe Shallows Caves
Debug Spawn	crashegg
Bioreactor	189

The Crashfish is a fauna species that defends its territory by rushing at intruders and exploding, killing itself and dealing considerable damage. It is never found swimming freely, feeding or hunting, instead always lurking inside its symbiotic partner, the Sulfur Plant. It lives only in caves, all in the Safe Shallows Caves, except for a group of eight in the Kelp Forest Caves.

Appearance

The Crashfish is an oval-shaped fish with widely spaced nostrils, a wide, seemingly toothless mouth, and one pale yellow eye with a large black pupil. The top of the body is red and scaly and looks like dripped on, its underside and face are covered by smooth, cream-colored skin. Many spikes protrude outwards from the Crashfish's body; these spikes are beige in color, tipped with red, and are responsible for triggering their characteristic explosive chemical reaction. The same spikes make up its fins, though these are much more brightly colored than the spikes found elsewhere on the body.

Behavior

Upon sensing the player's presence, including if they are in a Seamoth or Prawn Suit, the Sulfur Plant opens up like a flower and emits a menacing gurgle, revealing an emerging Crashfish. If the player approaches further after the Crashfish's initial warning, the Crashfish will launch itself out of the Sulfur Plant and charge at the player. If the player instead heeds the warning and backs off, the Crashfish will retreat back into the Sulfur Plant.

If the Crashfish explodes next to a Seamoth with the player inside, it can immediately destroy the Seamoth depending on proximity. Should an unaware player not see the Crashfish after hearing its warning noise, it is highly advised to swim in the other direction from where the sound originated. Crashfish also deals about 5% damage to a Prawn Suit.

The Crashfish is a very fast swimmer, it can even outswim a Seamoth, and can also easily catch up with an ill-equipped player, dealing severe damage to their health and also to their Oxygen level. There is an easy way of avoiding the Crashfish; the player can rush towards the Crashfish. Due to the crashfish’s speed, it lacks mobility and is unable to turn quickly so once the Crashfish explodes, the Player is out of range. The Crashfish becomes aggressive when the player gets too close and can be identified with its loud ‘reeet’ sound.  Using evasive maneuvers to put obstacles between the player and the Crashfish rather than swimming away in a straight line is advisable in most circumstances.

While the Crashfish is also scannable inside the Sulfur Plant, caution is advised when attempting this process. The easiest and fastest way to accomplish this is to freeze the Crashfish with a Stasis Rifle as it peeks out of its home to scan it.

Hitting the Crashfish before it opens its Sulfur Plant (achievable by sneaking up to the side of a Sulfur Plant positioned on a convex surface, then striking with a knife) will result in the Crashfish exploding inside the plant, killing the Crashfish without damaging the player, the Sulfur, the Sulfur plant or anything nearby. The Sulfur plant will open shortly after.

Crashfish eggs can be found near Sulfur Plants. Take care when collecting them, as a nearby Crashfish explosion will destroy them. 

Infant Crashfish can be used as ammo for the Propulsion Cannon and can be used as a type of bomb. When inside an Alien Containment, Crashfish will not explode, but when released outside, they will quickly swim in a random direction and explode after about 20 seconds.

Energy Value

×560

×189

Data Bank Entry

This unusual species has developed an emergency defense mechanism based on mutually assured destruction. 1. Forward-mounted Eye: Enables the creature to identify and track potential predators. 2. Sulfur Plant: The sulfur plant has evolved to feed on sulfuric compounds secreted by the crashfish, which makes its nest within its leaves. Stronger, more protective plants provide superior nesting grounds, which in turn provide the plant with more nutrients from larger crashfish. 3. Defense Mechanism: Concentrations of sulfur build up in the organism over time. If the crashfish collides with something at sufficient speed the spikes on its torso are impacted, triggering an explosive chemical reaction. Assessment: Equip stasis rifle, repulsion cannon, or similar before approaching shallow caves

Gallery

• Screenshots
• Videos
• Concept Art
• Models

Front view

Side profile

Dorsal view

Bioluminescence

Size comparison to the player

A Crashfish peeking through the opening of its plant.

The Crashfish preparing to strike

An exploding Crashfish

A Crashfish outside of its Sulfur Plant

A Crashfish being held by a Propulsion Cannon

Defense mechanism.

Concept art

Model of Egg from Sketchfab

Highpoly model of Egg from Sketchfab

Trivia

• The old name for the Crashfish was the Crash.

• The Crashfish has some similar aspects to real-life blowfish, as seen in the concept art. In the game, it swells like a balloon, complete with spikes.
  • The Crashfish also bears a striking resemblance to the Cacodemon from the first-person shooter, DOOM, which itself is likely based upon the Beholder of Dungeons & Dragons.
• The Cuddlefish was originally going to fill the role that the Crashfish does, but the developers decided to use the Crashfish model as the Cuddlefish was "too cute".
• The Crashfish and the Sulfur Plant are one of the three creatures to be in a symbiotic relationship.
• According to the databank, the Crashfish explodes when one of its spikes is struck. This resembles the classic naval contact mine, which detonates when one of the "horns" on its casing is crushed by contact with a ship hull. However, in the game, an angered Crashfish simply explodes after a set period of time.
  • However, if grabbed using a propulsion cannon, the crashfish does not seem to explode. Furthermore, shooting the crashfish will act as a sort of impact grenade, detonating as soon as it hits something.
• The Crashfish has an unused idle sound, resembling repetitive screeching and biting. The reason this was cut is unknown.