Description
The Electric Soulseer (Membroscrutor fulgur) is a species of Vertigololiginid Tentaculean Ichthyomorph from the Tropical Belt.
This Soulseer is among the smaller species in the family to have switched to a vertical swimming position, only being 180 cm long, excluding the tentacle-like gums.
The Extremely large pressure jets on the side of the body, almost as big as the animal itself, are proof of its close connection to some of the much larger species that inhabit the planet; Soulseers are generally divided into two major groups, the Umbrascrutors and the Exertognathids.
Umbrascrutors comprise most of the verticle-swimming Soulseers and have generally much more developed pressure jets, thinner gill tails and longer gums while Exertognathids are usually horizontal-swimming smaller Vertigololiginids with more developed fins and shorter gums.
Vertical swimming is not unique to Umbrascrutors, however, the most telling sign for a smaller Vertigololigind's ancestry is to be found in the jets.
The Jets of M. fulgur are much larger than expected in an animal that size and phylogenetical analyses on the evolution of Tentaculeans have since proven that, much like certain organs sizes require more time to change, so do pressure jets in pressionatatids; This is proof enough for most to conclude that the electrical Soulseer branched from a much larger ancestor and diminished in size to what it is today, resulting in the larger jets on the side of the body.
The Suggestive common name takes from the animal's defence and hunting strategy.
Both the area next to the chloroplast eyes and along the length of the gums are covered in electricity-producing organelles, which allow the animal to willingly discharge large amounts of electricity to either defend themselves or hunt.
The four tentacle-like gums act as wiring to conduct the electricity into a targeted attack, usually towards vital organs in prey, the colour of the gums themselves is made to blend with the surrounding water to avoid prey detecting the actual predator's reach.
When the animal is either threatened by something larger or is defending itself from predators like the Living Spear, it's also able to discharge electric currents in a less precise way, hitting anything inside a small range in its surroundings.
The specialized shape of the subcutaneous circulatory apparatus aids the animal in diverting the electricity from hitting any of the vital organs, making it immune from its own defence mechanism.
The relationship between the Electric Soulseer and the Living Spear is that of a predator-predator relationship, where both animals will hunt one another.
Although quite rare to see close to the coasts, the animal is fully able to kill a human and will try to do so if given the possibility as our calcium-rich bones make us an appetizing target for the animal.
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