Crashfish (Subnautica)

Overview

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, it always lurks inside its symbiotic partner, the Sulfur Plant. It lives only in caves, primarily in the Safe Shallows Caves, with a small group of eight located 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, appearing as if dripped on, while 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

Crashfish are aggressive towards the player and shark-classified fauna. Upon being approached, the Crashfish will peek out of the plant and gurgle as a warning. If the warning is ignored, the Crashfish will quickly swim out of the plant and chase after its target. After a few seconds, the Crashfish will explode and deal massive damage to its surroundings.

Crashfish can be grabbed with the Propulsion Cannon and will explode upon impact if launched. The explosion deals moderate damage to the Seamoth and low damage to the Prawn Suit. The Cyclops is unaffected by the explosion.

Note: Crabsquids hatched in the Alien Containment will flee from the player upon being released into the wild. They will automatically explode after 20 seconds pass.

Data Bank Entry

Crashfish

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.

Source: Scan Crashfish

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.
• Item crashfish loaded into the cannon won't explode, but they cannot be picked up.
• The Crashfish has an unused idle sound, resembling repetitive screeching and biting. The reason this was cut is unknown.