Gulper Cish

With so few organisms regularly feeding on carpolantans, the niche for an obligate carpolantan-eater still remained open. A population of coral cish would soon occupy this niche and become the gulper cish.

The gulper cish eats large quantities of carpolantans to make up for their prey’s low nutrient content. Fortunately, carpolantans are easier to digest due to their soft gelatinous bodies. This combined with the gulper cish’s large mouth allows them to consume large amounts of carpolantans. They typically feed by swimming through swarms of carpolantans with their mouths open wide, swallowing everything in their path. Once the gulper cish’s stomach is full, it will close its mouth and digest its catch. Gulper cish will often slow down while digesting, which leaves them vulnerable to predation. However, the gulper cish’s cryptic coloration makes them hard to spot in the open ocean.

The gulper cish has developed a cartilaginous skull in order to protect the brain. It covers the entirety of the brain with an opening in the back. The upper notocord runs through this opening. The skull slopes down to the front of the head, where it surrounds the mouth and provides an attachment point for the gulper cish’s throat. The tentacle bones sit in joint sockets that surround the oral opening. The eye sockets are located near the back of the skull. The trachea leading to the gill-lung lie beneath the skull and does not pass through it. There is a long spur protruding from the caudal, ventral side of the skull, which serve as attachment points for some of the ventral tentacles’ muscles.

The gulper cish’s respiratory system has been modified as a result of their more sluggish lifestyle. Their nostril baits have been modified into cilia, which can create an incurrent as a result of their beating. This allows water to reach the gill-lungs while the gulper cish is stationary, keeping it from suffocating while it is resting.