Blood-Smelling Gillcrest

The blood-smelling gillcrest replaced its ancestor together with its cousin, the redfin gillcrest, and has joined the big hunters of the sea. It has grown larger and more robust and its head has become somewhat wider to accommodate a larger mouth with sharp fangs. Furthermore, it changed color in order to better blend with the gray sand.

However, the blood-smelling gillcrest is an opportunistic carnivore and does not try to compete with larger and more experienced predators like the azularian. It doesn’t take too many risks and will usually only attack wounded prey, unless the creature in question is considerably smaller than the hunter. Like its name suggest, it finds these wounded creatures by smelling their blood using its gills. Wherever there is blood in the water, it won’t be long before a group of gillcrests appears to see if there is any food to be had. When food is scarce, they won’t hesitate to eat already dead meat.

Like its ancestor, the blood-smelling gillcrest is a solitary creature, though they will occasionally meet while hunting. They don’t generally have a problem sharing their food with each other, though sometimes two gillcrests will fight for the food, headbutting each other until one of them gives in and leaves to find its own meal. This happens the most in the mating season, when both males and females are more agitated, though a mother protecting her young can also be rather aggressive.

After mating, the male leaves and the female lays a small cluster of 5-10 eggs in a burrow in the sand. It will keep an eye on these eggs until they hatch and afterwards, the young will stay around their mother for several weeks, learning the principles of hunting. About half of the eggs will produce a gillcrest that will eventually reach adulthood. The rest dies at a young age or simply do not hatch.