Ventrapper



An offshoot of the marollon, the ventrapper continues to live much like its predecessor has, yet fails to fully replace it due in part to a somewhat different diet.

The ventrapper kept its ancestor's ability to excavate vents, but now covers its excavation holes with short tubes, made out of their waste combined with a gelatinous paste derived from the egg gelatin, which hardens quickly to a likeness to cement. This keeps them safer when predators come searching for them, as the tubes make it harder to tell where exactly the Ventrapper is at any given moment when not actively seeking prey, and are hard to break as well.

They now feed on larger prey; namely segmentocauda stilletiforma and dark swarmers, and the occasional marollon if they can come across them, but this doesn't occur very often. To attract their free-swimming prey, the ventrapper has evolved a form of bioluminescence, emanating from its mouth. They will open their mouth wide, to try and emulate a dark swarmer's behavior, in the hopes of attracting one. To increase their chances, only four of their mouthparts actually can glow like this. When one comes close enough, it will snatch it and, depending on its size, drag it partially into the local tube or sit out in the open and consume its prey.