Houndgar

 | Feature | Details | | :--- | :--- | | **Species** | *Teuthis courser* ("Hunting dog squid") | | **Attitude** | Aggressive | | **Type** | Mobile | | **Category** | Predators | | **Biome** | Graveyard | | **Biomod** | [Chum Cloud](Chum_Cloud) |   ![Houndgar](Houndgar.png)   The **Houndgar** is a small, aggressive lifeform commonly found alongside the larger [Marrowbreach](Marrowbreach).   ## Appearance   The Houndgar is a small, squid-like creature with a dark-blue body marked by bright-blue bands.   The head bears a single pair of dark eyes and several tentacles, which can be flared to produce a bright flash, disorienting prey. A pair of larger fins sit behind the head, and three pairs of finlets are situated on the dorsal and ventral side of the tail.   ## Behavior   Houndgar tend to swim alongside a Marrowbreach in groups. Upon noticing potential prey, they are able to produce a bright flash to dazzle them, which gives the Marrowbreach an opening to attack.   ## Databank Entry  -> **Houndgar** (*tentatively Teuthis courser*). A squid that dazzles prey for marrowbreach ambush.->-> 1. **Squidlike body plan**-> Shares a basic bauplan (body plan) with terrestrial squid — a beaked head, eight arms, a long soft body, a pair of fins. Developed fin structure suggests a different evolutionary history than Earth's boneless squid. Two spiracles pass water for an internal gill.->-> 2. **Camouflage display**-> The houndgar's eight arms are joined by four membranes, which the houndgar displays to prey. Millions of chromatophores (biological pixels) create patterns of motion camouflage to conceal the houndgar's approach.->-> 3. **Marrowbreach partnership**-> Houndgars are ideal prey for marrowbreaches, but the two species hunt together. The houndgar flushes prey from hiding, then distracts and marks them for the marrowbreach's poor vision by performing a display. The houndgar gets the scraps—the bigger the prey, the more the houndgar benefits.->-> 4. **Powerful beak**-> The houndgar's parrot-like beak tears tough flesh: important because everything the houndgar swallows passes through the center of its brain.->-> 5. **Speculative social structure**-> Squads of houndgars must spot good prey for their marrowbreaches or become food themselves; marrowbreaches must attract good houndgar squads by yielding more of their kills. Houndgars push the marrowbreach to take ever larger prey. The negotiation of an ongoing contract between houndgars and marrowbreach is a reminder of Alterra Alms' mantra that 'we all need to be needed'.->-> **Assessment:** houndgar displays may signal an imminent marrowbreach attack. Possibly intelligent, perhaps trainable.+**Houndgar** (*tentatively Teuthis courser*). A squid that dazzles prey for marrowbreach ambush.  +1. **Squidlike body plan**+   Shares a basic bauplan (body plan) with terrestrial squid — a beaked head, eight arms, a long soft body, a pair of fins. Developed fin structure suggests a different evolutionary history than Earth's boneless squid. Two spiracles pass water for an internal gill.+ +2. **Camouflage display**+   The houndgar's eight arms are joined by four membranes, which the houndgar displays to prey. Millions of chromatophores (biological pixels) create patterns of motion camouflage to conceal the houndgar's approach.+ +3. **Marrowbreach partnership**+   Houndgars are ideal prey for marrowbreaches, but the two species hunt together. The houndgar flushes prey from hiding, then distracts and marks them for the marrowbreach's poor vision by performing a display. The houndgar gets the scraps—the bigger the prey, the more the houndgar benefits.+ +4. **Powerful beak**+   The houndgar's parrot-like beak tears tough flesh: important because everything the houndgar swallows passes through the center of its brain.+ +5. **Speculative social structure**+   Squads of houndgars must spot good prey for their marrowbreaches or become food themselves; marrowbreaches must attract good houndgar squads by yielding more of their kills. Houndgars push the marrowbreach to take ever larger prey. The negotiation of an ongoing contract between houndgars and marrowbreach is a reminder of Alterra Alms' mantra that 'we all need to be needed'.+ +**Assessment:** houndgar displays may signal an imminent marrowbreach attack. Possibly intelligent, perhaps trainable.+  *Source: [Scan](Scan) a [Houndgar](Houndgar)*   ## Gallery   ![The front side as seen in the Graveyard](Houndgar_front.png) ![Symmetrical dorsal and ventral tail fins and a highly unusual eye evident](Houndgar_side.png) ![Note the tentacle-like mouth parts and horizontal pectoral fins](Houndgar_top.png) ![Houndgar featured in Marrowbreach concept art](Marrowbreach_Concept_Art_2.jpg) ![An earlier, more Gar-like concept of the Houndgar alongside an un-finalized Marrowbreach](MarrowbreachConceptArt.png)   ## Trivia   *   Despite appearing squid-like, the Houndgar is named after a fish.     *   Earlier concept art shows that the Hound Gar was originally gar-like in appearance before the design was changed to a squid-based design. The name was not altered however. *   Despite the databank entry referring to the Houndgar as a squid, it is currently placed within the "fish" section of the databank, rather than the "Cephalopod" section.