swimp Name: Anomalocaris (usually just called anomalos or anomalocarises) Info: One of few species of radiodont living in EG-7, anomalos differ in niche drastically when compared to their primordial forms. While A. canadensis was the apex predator of the entire world, A. kiwamimus is more comparable to a mackerel or a sea bass, eating smaller fish and inverts but not being anywhere near the top of the aquatic food web. Anomalos are common in the oceans surrounding the mainland, and are the favored prey of many temnospondyls, aquatic reptiles, pterosaurs, birds, and mammals that hunt or live at sea, and as such they have a very odd method of populating. In early spring, male anomalos will gain yellow areas on their fins and probosci, and begin emmiting pheromones into the water. Female and male anomalos alike will follow this pheromone trail and eventually there's just a big ol blob of anomalos making eggs. Then they all quit it, and the thousands of eggs drift through the current. When young hatch, they live as a planktonic larva for around 3 months before becoming large enough to hunt on their own, at which point they will grow to the size shown in 4 more months, then grow at a much slower rate until they reach the end of their lifespan at 30-ish years of age. it's around the time that the newest generation reaches around half the size shown when it's legal to catch them. Anomalo traps aren't very complex, pretty much just a wire version of a box and stick trap, with a chunk of meat (typically something humans won't eat, like chicken necks or fish heads) and an entrance that collapses when the bait inside is moved, which it will be due to the way anomalos pull prey towards their mouth with their proboscises. Anomalos are described to taste like a mix of crab and, somewhat ironically given its coloration, mackerel and other smaller predator fish. Larger ones are noted to taste a bit like alligator.
