Crabcow

Scuttling across the seabeds, their stampedes sound like thunder. The sea-floor muck they kick up can drift up like a rising thunderstorm reaching to consume the sky above. They are dangerous, but beautiful. They bring life where once the sea floor was empty. They are Crabs The Size Of Cows, or Crabcows.
Their carapaces are speckled blue, brown, and purple, and their bodies are flat and wide with sharp-looking ridges along their sides. Their armor is thicker than normal crab chitin, but similarly brittle. The real possible danger are their claws and raw force of movement- an aggressive and rampaging feral crabcow can be a threat. And don't think swimming up will save you- they can majestically soar through the open ocean, either to flee or to hunt (but usually to flee).
Crabcows are the basis of Squiddle life- crabcow chitin forms their tools and containers, crabcow meat feeds their families. Squiddles and Crabcows depend on one another- Crabcows needs Squiddles to shepherd, protect, and clean them just as much as Squiddles need Crabcows to live. A lifetime around crabherds and squiddles makes a crabcow docile and friendly- but beware the feral crabcow. When raised in isolation, the aggressive instincts take over and the crabcow transforms into a dangerous territorial creature.
Crabcows were created by The Masked One long ago.

Basic Information

Growth Rate & Stages

Crabcows reproduce via massive numbers of tiny open-water eggs. Once fertilized and hatched, small larvae float and eat algae and surface microbiorganisms near the surface until they reach 5 months of age. After 5 months, they begin trying to follow the sounds and chemical trails of passing crabcow herds to link up with a larger group. They will have 19 months to do so, after which they will reach full maturity.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Crabcows are detritovores that eat barnacles, kelp, carcasses, and just about anything.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Feral crabs are very aggressive, territorial, and cannibalistic- especially to other crabs. Their claw force is extreme.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Crabcows flourish along non-freezing continental shelves outside of the Arctic/Antarctic circles

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Large numbers of carcinema worms are a common infestation for crabcows. These do little to sicken the crabs, but can build up along their joints to slow their movement. If feeder-fish aren't present to clean them, Squiddle attendants often have to. More dangerous is Bitter Crab disease, caused by the Perezi Hematode parasite that commonly infests crabcows and can lie dormant for years. Perezi Hematodes are known to bloom wildly in the presence of stress hormones, slowing down and eventually killing crabs that live in stressed environments. This stress-bloom also gives the crab a bitter, sometimes rancid taste- not only killing the crab but ruining its possible product.

Lifespan

22 years

Average Height

5'2"

Average Length

6.5' wide, 4' long