Alien Name: Kk’k’srk**~**~ (best human-compatable translation is Flash-Danger)

Planet of Origin: Malegara

Ecosystem Component: high-chain carnivore

Base Habitat: The deep trenches, volcanic level

Intelligence level: equivalent to that of a sea-gull. Good instincts, flexible and adaptive to many situations, but they are real birdbrains.

Size: 8 ft in height, 5 ft in width

Grouping: solitary, though its young travel in small pods that break apart as they grow older and as their digestive systems modify.

Appearance: It appears to be a large, dull-colored plated fish with large teeth-pillars with a long, wiggling tongue tipped with a harpoon tip and a series of alluring lights. It looks strikingly like a massive, armored anglerfish, through the similarities end quickly enough. The gaping mouth not only has vertical teeth, but a few horizontal teeth located at its edge. Just behind the hinges for the jaw lie the fins. They begin with a series of armored plates and end in a stiff, but flexible mass that serves to propel. These fins are powerful, though there are only two. They also serve to release waste: there are small openings in the middle of the plating that have a connection to the internal system of the Flash-Danger. This helps it fan away its scent so potential mates can find it. The fins are spade shaped. It has three sections: Head, Body, and tail. Its tail, like its fins, has an armored base ringed by a flexible fin material. The tail has a rounded, trident shape and moves very slowly. Its body segment consists of a two armored plates: one on top and one on the bottom. It is flexible only at the parts where it connects to head or tail. Its head is fairly solid, its mouth takes up most of it. However, it has a black light-sensing eye-like mass on top of its head that allows it to detect the bioluminescent patterns around it. It covered with intricate patterning of both dull red spirals and nodes of luminescence. It has the ability to turn off its lights temporarily while sneaking up, but if it keeps its lights off too long, the cells that produce the light might die. Thus, a few of the flash-dangers have patches of dim or dead light.
The process of eating begins when it lures its prey close with a hypnotic display of its tongue light and captures them with the harpoon-like tip. It brings them into its cavernous mouth and closes it, trapping them in there. The sides of its mouth are muscular and tipped with small body plates. They can ‘chew’ inward to crush the prey into a pulpy, shapeless mass. Other muscles and bony plates move it into the main organs, located in the body segment. While the Flash-danger has digestive juices of its own, the process is aided by specific colonies of bacteria living in its gut. The prey is crushed and dissolved and promptly colonized by the gut bacteria, broken down and processed into essential parts. The organ this happens in is a lot like the human stomach. However, it begins large and tapers. Once the food is processed enough to fit, it is moved by muscular action to another organ which absorbs nutrients and byproducts into the water-based circulatory system. This organ is much like the intestines, except it contains cutting organs in its early stages to break food down further and splits into two identical passages that curl right next to each other. Once the food can no longer be digested and processed by the flash-danger, it is expelled by moving the resulting mess through the tubes in the fins and then scattered by their moving action.

Lifespan/Reproduction:
Kk’k’srk**~**~ have males and females. They can be told apart by virtue of their bioluminescence: though both display white light, they have been known to ‘shimmer’, as in have a very slight and breif change of color play across their nodes. Males tend towards greener ‘shimmerings’ and females tend towards orange ‘shimmerings’. When two meet, either by virtue of their scent trail- provided by their waste-disposing flippers- or by a chance noticing of the shimmer of the bioluminescence, they begin an eleaborate courtship ritual where their gender specific colors flash strongly and briefly at times and their lights flash in intricate patterns within their already intricate patterns. If the mating ritual is successful and no partner leaves to find a different mate, both will search for a nesting site, preferably near a vent or a heated area. They build a nest, and the female lays a batch of eggs. The male fertilizes them, and they both guard the nest from anything that comes near until the eggs hatch. Then the parents go their own way and the hatchlings form a school. They eat small particles and bacteria until their digestive systems and size become mature enough to eat meat. Then they gradually separate into smaller and smaller groups until finally they are each alone.
Until they get to full size, they do have predators, including adult Kk’k’srk**~**~. Once at full size, however, they have very few things to worry about.

In all, they live to about 14 malegaran years, and about 1/200 eggs (average nest size-400+ eggs) reach adulthood and the resulting pseudo-invincibility. There appears to be no limit to how many times a Kk’k’srk**~**~ can mate.

Territory:

Known Predators/Dangers:
As eggs and young hatchlings/fry (each about an inch in length), anything that can eat bacteria or vent nutrients are willing to give them a try, since the nutrients in the egg and fry are handy for feeding their internal bacterial colonies.
As they get to around 1 foot, the bacteriovores tend to not be a problem, but small predators and suction-using predators become a problem.
As they get to around 3-4 feet in size, the large predators, including adults of their own species, become a problem until they reach adult size.

Other dangers include disease- a hostile bacteria that kills its symbionts or damages it, lava burns, rockslides, and self defencive abilities from its prey