Four-Jawed Irobian Ripper

A medium to large sized amphibian from the Irobian Ocean, Tetramandibulolythron amphibiletifer is often considered one of the missing links between the more basal Enetodontida and the more advanced Tubercolosthomatosoidea still living today.
The animal is a Lazarus taxon, otherwise known as a living fossil, with barely dissimilar, although much bigger, ancestors dating back 50 million years.
T. amphibiletifer is better known by the general public for its fantastic show of colors when expressing emotion and the apparently playful nature often seen in documentaries, where the animal dances in water like an acrobat performing in a circus.
The animal is also famous for its quite unique hunting technique, which greatly differs from more derived members of its group. While most jawed Tubercolosthomatosid amphibians use the blunt jaws to grasp prey and keep it still while injecting their acids, the Irobian Ripper uses the vertically arranged jaws to cut deep into the prey's belly, keeping it still by impaling it with the upper teeth and shredding the Filtration sac, drowning the victim, injecting its gastric acids only after its demise.
For years the four eyed nature of the animal puzzled researchers as it's quite unusual for extant life on the planet; this dilemma was solved when more fossil specimens from the last megafauna cycle demonstrated that the two eyed model is the outsider in the planet's evolutionary trend, with most extinct genera possissing two pairs or more instead of the more familiar template we can observe in today's oceans. This loss in eye count is thought to be a recent mutation dating back 30 million years, when most life on the planet got wiped away.

Basic Information

Anatomy

• Head long with four eyes; cranial armor terminating in a long snout pointing slightly upwards.

• Ventral section of the Maxillo-massenteric plate toothed with sixteen large conoidal teeth, with slight downpointing serrations on the four lateral faces.

• Tuberculus short and large, with a weak cartilagineus tip.

• Four pairs of jaws present.

• Jaw I grows central to the ventral section of the cranium, only one major tine growing from the end of it, with smaller blunt points on the mid section.

• Jaw II-IV armed with several predatorial tines; no two specimens share the same tine number and length.

• Very long downpointing pectoral fins, Anal fins I and II smaller and triangular.

• Pinneal thumb present in the dorsal fin.

• Very high Gill Tail terminating in a rather high Gill fan with moderately high ridges and a soft caudal drop.

Genetics and Reproduction

Polyandrous species.
T. amphibiletifer mates during early spring in medium depths Iron-Mussel reefs in the south Irobian Ocean; males live in the reefs all year long, females migrate from the open waters where they live.
Females enter heat approximately two to three weeks before males, spraying chemical trails in their territories to call wandering males to the area.
Taking advantage of the bachelor social groups, a female can attract multiple males at once this way.
The chemical trail attracts males and females alike, as other females may wonder in another female's territory to try and chase away the local contender or intercept males swimming towards her, mating with them before the other female can even get a chance at court shipping them.
Mating dances are a group effort as both the males and female dance together; the female swims towards the surface quickly while the males swim in a spiral around her body, giving light nudges to her on the sides; when the female turns to swim down, the males scatter and then regroup around her.
The dance cycles this way five or six times, ending when the female gets tired, halting her frantic dance and letting the males on her back, where they can mate one by one; Usually the older males get mating priority, while males too young to mate will only participate in the dances as practice; in some cases, immature males will also try mating for practice, although they won't be able to fertilize any egg sac.
Once mating ends, the males immediately lose interest in the female and leave the area to scout for other partners or forage on smaller animals before returning to normal life.
Females incubate the eggs in the duct for six days before laying them onto the Iron-Mussels that create the reef.
Once the eggs are laid, the female will abandon them to hatch; local males will take in the hatchling in their groups.

Growth Rate & Stages

Newborn T. amphibiletifer have fused cranial armors and bigger fins; young specimens are much slimmer and more agile.
The spawn is born with very blunt tines in the jaws, used to crush young Iron-Mussels and access the mollusc inside.
The animal reaches sexual maturity at eight years of age but the first time males will mate-practice is at one year of age.
Loss of natal aculeus at the third month of life.

Ecology and Habitats

Epi- to Mesopelagic species found between depths of 100-600 m.
Males live all their lives in Iron-Mussel reefs in small bachelor groups.
Females live in open waters, deeper than males; they are lonesome and migrate to the male habitat only for mating season.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Predatorial animal with a high variation in prey depending on gender and age.
Young specimens eat young Iron-Mussels and soft bodied amphibians and invertebrates.
Males eat small amphibians or bigger prey hunted in packs.
Females are lonesome predators, hunting large amphibians.

Biological Cycle

Males are periannial, feeding in the richer reefs; no big reduction in activity year long.
Females are open water predators; they go in a reduced activity state for the duration of the winter.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Males live in small bachelor groups of up to fifteen specimens with plenty of social interactions; males pack hunt and coordinate strikes.
Female lonesome, doesn't tolerate conspecifics of the same gender.

Domestication

Seen in some Public aquariums seldomly.
A famous female specimen kept in captivity in the early 2400s was nicknamed "jack the Ripper" after the famous folkloristic figure from pre-Reshtu times.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Of significant economic impact due to sport fishing of the species, which is targeted mostly on females due to their larger size, leading to a decrease in the global populations of the animal.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Fragmented populations on the east coast of Irobi, the western cape of the Lakanaya mountains in Neygambe and around Sigmund Island, although the last one is believed to be a different species, western Nuwadi Ocean, Irobian Ocean.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

very good eyesight, poor hearing

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Afflicted by parasitic skin Mussels and Intestinal Tube Worms.
Males in a commensalistic relationship with several bigger amphibians, when they find one.

Scientific Name

Enetodontia; Enetodontida; Incertae Sedis; Tetramandibulolythron; T. amphibiletifer

Lifespan

45 Years

Conservation Status

Vulnerable: the species is in decline due to game fishing; no actions have been taken so far to protect it
Population Trend: DECLINE

Average Weight

250 gr to 350 kg

Average Length

0.5 m (male) , 2.3 m (female)

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Azure body with lighter countershading in the ventral section.
Lime-light green striping slowly getting darker moving towards the tail, ventral half of the Gill Fan blends from a darker green back to a lighter hue.
Armor yellowish-green to green.