Polar Kraken

The polar kraken split from its ancestor the rainbow kraken. It has migrated to the norther polar waters where it became top predator. Its arms are no longer as long because its prey is so much smaller. It has developed claws on all its tentacles in order to dig through the ice for air. They still need to breathe from the surface and the claws act like icepicks. They also do well to latch onto prey or pull apart the exoskeleton of the polar seadragolden. Like their ancestor, the polar krakens have a thick layer of blubber which helps it retain heat in the icy waters. They can still can inject prey with a toxin to keep it from struggling when they wrap around it with their tentacles. Their eyes can rotate 360 degrees as well as move in all directions. They also still have the ability to deflate its gas bladder and sink deeper. The two nostrils close, and the large lungs can hold breath for as long as 60 minutes. This helps when there are no breathing holes in the ice and they need to take the time to make one. When they do come to the surface they pop up vertically which is why their nostrils are on the front rather than the top of their body. Normally they stay white in color to stay hidden from their prey among the icebergs; however when mating they use their many chromatophores to make beautiful patterns on their skin to attract each other. Both genders can do it. The hermaphrodite gender develops a long, fleshy organ to place the gametes into the pouch of the carrier. In order to control the population, the babies hatch inside the womb in a large amniotic sac. The fetuses swim freely, and are not attached to an umbilicus. They can breathe through their skin. An organ analogous to the placenta surrounds the amniotic sac and pumps in oxygen and salt into the fluid. The stronger fetuses eat the other, weaker fetuses. Only two of them survive, and they tend to be the strongest. This is called intrauterine cannibalism. At birth, the surviving babies quickly swim up to the surface to get their first breath and fill their gas-bladders. The young first start with smaller prey such as iceberg foi, gilltails and ice swarmers. But as they get bigger and eat onyroslees, dawn scrapers and dawn thieves. And if they can survive to full size they will eat larger prey such as polar seadragoldens and north polar gharks. The largest and oldest ones can live up to 200 years if they are lucky. However many die out long before then.