The Dire Grapshark

Order: Xenoselachidae

Family: Harpactoselachidae

Genus: Archonoselachus

The Kryosian Gulf. Found in the far north, it is found in the gulf of the crescent-shaped island of Kryos, the largest island on Alladoras, being roughly about the size of New Zealand. In the summer, the sea appears to break into song as hundreds of mobucete pods enter the gulf to feed on the immense abundance of plankton that feed on phytoplankton that stains the water a greenish colour. This boon brings upon immense diversity, with pelagys from many places converging here to feast upon the diversity of food.But with such a bounty of food and prey converging in one place, predators aren't far behind. Among the shoals of schooling pelagys and jetgillers are predators, such as crescentjacks, aeuna, tigacurras, oiltails and grapsharks, coming to feed upon this unprecedented congregation of species in a single place.

And here is also a rare opportunity to see the very largest of these predators. A colossal pelagys, 50 feet in length and 40 tons, the undisputed ruler of the high seas — the dire grapshark.

Among all the species of grapshark, a group of xenoselachian pelagys that possess jointed, raptorial mandibles, the dire grapshark is the very largest. Reaching a size equivalent to O. chubutensis, a Terran shark related to the famous Megalodon, the dire grapshark is only rivalled in size by the brutalizer grapshark (Daemonognathus infernalis). The dire grapshark evolved to hunt prey that very few other species do — mobucetes, which are colossal filter feeders. The majority of predators are too small to tackle adult mobucetes, and the select few that do only do so on occasion. Yet, the dire grapshark's main prey consists of said mobucetes, as it uses its massive raptorial mandibles wrap around the mobucete's body after striking from below — they breach above the surface in impressive natural feats of power. Their grip allows them to keep their prey restrained with their jaws, and also to use their pharyngeal jaws to cut and process the flesh of their unfortunate victims.

Being such successful predators, the dire grapshark remains one of the few predators capable of hunting adult mobucetes regularly, yet typically hunting smaller species, with the larger species being out of their range. Such smaller mobucetes often congregate in large pods to avoid predation and to defend their vulnerable young, often using their rostrums and mandibles to to ram straight into the grapshark, hopefully managing to deter the colossal predator.

Due to its size, the dire grapshark has very little natural competitors and virtually no predators. Only brutalizer grapsharks come close in size, and they are more keen to bully smaller predators off their kills than to try to fight with an adult dire grapshark. However, as juveniles, they face predation from most species of predators, with most aeunas and tigacurras being large enough to hunt them, which has prompted this species to invest in parental care. In the first 5 months of their lives, the young grapsharks are under their mother's care, and grow quickly under her care — they invest in k-selection reproduction, in which they create a small number of well developed young to invest all their energy in.. She descends to depths of around 200-400 metres during the period of time in which she looks after her babies, seeking solitude in the mesopelagic. After these 5 months, the young disperse, being large and fast enough to avoid larger predators. However, for them, it will still be a very long time before they attain the title of the undisputed ruler of the high seas.