Tentacle Fish

The squidfishes themselves have became a near universal clade. Present in any body of water or swamp, yet they are no alone. For swim with them are many cousins, all varied and strange as the squidfishes themselves.

Squidfishes as a whole are part of a giant family of pleco descendants called "Piscarimultisarmis". Present in a variety of niches and biomes, known for their skin covered fins and prehensile facial structures. Giving them sturdy strong fins and their structures used for everything. To explore this giant family, we hve picked representatives of three clades.

1. Flaglips (Vexillumiferrepisces): In the rivers of the new Gaian rainforests, it lurks at the murky surface. Wiggling it's brightly colored flags around, mimicking that of a struggling slug or fish. A soarer flies above looking for prey, making it dive towards the lure. Plucking and chomping down on the tralp, causing the tentacles to wrap around it. Dragging the helpless soarer down to it's death, ripping off it's wings and gulfing it down in one bite.

Flaglips are a rather early split off the squidfish, though convergently evolving similiar prehensile tentactles. Sharing the same muscelature as their cousins, while exploiting different niches. Flaglips are ambush predators who lure their prey with flags, whiel squidfishes are active predators. While being an exclusively freshwater predator, being one of the most widespread predators.

2. Twojaws (Monstrumaduaora): A little dolphin calf speeds away, lost it's mother and being chased by a predator. It's silhouette resembling a shark, one with massive teeth and a massive overbite. Though once it closes in, it is not regular shark. For it was not a shark at all, but a stranger fish. The upper jaws seemingly split in half, turning and rotating around like tentacles. Grasping and wrapping it's prey down in them, piercing and slicing it's flesh til it's dead.

Twojaws are actually close to squidfishes than any other tentacle fish, for it's ancestors actuallt had four tentacles. Though it lost them while heading out to sea early. The tentacles are supported by hardy bones, becoming like two massive fingers. Outcompeting sharks for large prey carnivore, though are not suited for lite chase like Torpedosharks and Pelagic Squidfish.

3. Earlips (Piscariaureslabia): Staying in the strange oceans, various small copepods and amphipods thrive. The most wide spread clades are those who have internal chloroplasts. Becoming a major food source for various fauna, from siphon-mouth dolphins to massive flat-sharks gulping down masses. Everything competing for this wide-spread food source, even the tentacle fishes were getting on it.

While filter feeding squidfish feed more alienly, by having massive tentacles. With tiny little "hairs" to catch and scrap algae. Their cousins feed more conservatively, like the massive earlips. Close relatives of the Twojaws, but instead repurposed their tentacles as displays. Resembling ears in a way or another, though have no hearing function. Instead using them to scare off predators, or to recognize each other in the colorful green seas.