Reapermaw Hafgufa

Descended from the cruelfang hafgufa, the more hydrodynamic body plan of the reapermaw hafgufa has allowed it to replace its ancestor throughout wherever their two ranges would have intersected. Such a thing was inevitable, of course, as two large apex predators sharing a similar, limited food source - in this case the lynbakrs - would inevitably compete with one another until eventually only one would come out on top and be left to remain. Now without their ancestors to compete with them, they could afford to grow even larger and hunt down their prey who have, in turn, been evolving towards larger sizes as a means of defense. Bearing an impressively sized maw to match their own increased size, they has been able to overcome this defense of the lyngbakrs and continue to further specialize in hunting them down as well as other large marine fauna. With the evolution of their lunate tails, they are capable of achieving brief bursts of speed, allowing them to deliver crippling blows that shatter bones, shear flesh, and rupture organs all in one bite. It would seem that in this age, the reapermaw hafgufa have taken on the title of topmost predator throughout all the seas of Sagan IV.

Perhaps the most remarkable evolutionary adaptation, even more so than the continued streamlining of their bodies, is what has occurred to their respiratory systems. While the utilization of ram gills has existed since the most ancient of snarks, it has never been the most efficient of systems for them, especially when it comes to larger species. The reapermaw hafgufa has developed a solution to this. Unlike other scylarians, water only enters through the first gill opening. Because of a chamber beneath it, it can even forcefully suck in water, allowing it to be further forced through the body. As it makes its way towards the second gill opening, it passes alongside numerous specialized blood vessels, which pull the oxygen out of it. As the water is finally pushed out the rear gill opening, veins located there in turn expel CO2 so that it may be removed from the body. This transformation of their respiratory system has led to the success of the reapermaw hafgufa, allowing it to maintain its title of apex predator throughout the regions it inhabits. With improved respiration comes increased size, and with increased sizes comes - just as with many other similarly huge species - an increased resilience to cancer. Numerous tumor-suppressing genes help them in regard, which not only limit the growth and size of potential tumors, but even aid in killing them off before they can potentially become a metastasizing threat. Of course, with age comes a reduction in the production of these genes, and those that begin to reach the ripe old age of around 200 will begin to suffer from a worsening in their health in regards to cancer and similar issues.

Capable of diving deep in the pursuit of lyngbakrs, the reapermaw hafgua can reach depths of nearly 2,000 meters, which just skirts the edge of the midnight zone. The delving lyngbakrs are the primary prey they hunt down in these sunless depths, though the presence of other species do round out their diets. They will also dive deep when hunting lyngbakrs that are higher up in the water column, as this gives them the element of surprise as well as time to build up momentum when charging their unaware prey. Their dark hues help them to blend in down in the dark, and their enlarged chin-strips help them to sense prey from further away. Said chin-strips are also more flattened overall, and rest easily against the sides of their heads in order to reduce drag while swimming.

Reproduction occurs year round, though most often during the times when lyngbakrs are plentiful, and tend to be brief if violent affairs. Prone to nipping at the fins of one another, the pair of hafgufa will swim alongside one another for several hours as a form of courtship before engaging in mating. Once the deed is done, they go their separate ways, for at that point they merely see one another as competition within their respective territories. The young - anywhere between 4 to 5 pups known as "nippers" due to their hunting habits - will develop over the course of almost two years within the wombs of their mothers. Once they are large enough, the mother will give birth and then show them no further parental care. Already almost 5 meters long, the young will go off into the world and begin their solitary lives as hunters. While they are too small for such prey as lyngbakrs, they can hunt down various scylarians, gilltails, and even aquatic shrews, quickly cementing their future status as apex predators. With the only threat to their existence being other, larger hafgufas and the occasional spear-fishing shrog, they are seemingly ruthless hunters, though in truth they gorge themselves in order to fuel their initial impressive growth rate. Reaching nearly 7 meters in length by the end of their first year, they will reach around 15 meters in 8 years, after which their growth rate will begin to slow down. They will reach sexual maturity around this point, though tend to only produce a single nipper or two, and their fertility will improve with age. Should they survive predation, starvation, and all other manners of early death, they will reach their full size within 30 years.