Pokémon Marine Biology: From Seashore to Abyss

By lyd and TMan87. Released: 2019/03/02.

TMan87:
Welcome to this new entry in the Pokémon Biology series! I am TMan87, and together with fellow biologist Lyd, whose expertise in this field is almost unmatched, we are about to shed some light on this daunting and foreign world. Welcome to Marine Pokébiology!

The sea is a biome unlike any other: most lifeforms there are granted three-dimensional movement options, which opens up a lot of hunting and hiding strategies. But even then, diving into this realm will allow you to witness a plethora of adaptational skills and tactics you'd never see twice in two different species! The sea is an unforgiving world, and the creatures that live within can be equally ruthless...

Seashore

Mareanie

Tman87: Mareanie looks goofy and harmless, but don't let that fool you: it's not a predator for nothing. Mareanie haunts Alola's coasts, trying to find its favorite meal: Corsola. Nobody really knows why it's constantly looking for Corsola's coral to eat (with or without Corsola at the other end), but it may be because the hard materials like calcium are a great asset to harden Mareanie's (and later Toxapex's) shell. Its mobility isn't the best though, due to it having only one "foot" to speak of, so it usually avoids deeper waters, where predators are more ferocious and likely fully evolved, a crew against which a poor Mareanie would stand no chance.

Mareanie also has a predator of its own though: Bruxish. Its tough exterior and poisonous spikes are no match for a Bruxish's stellar jaw power, and Bruxish are often found near coasts rather than in deeper waters for this exact reason. The idea that Bruxish gained the Psychic typing through adaptational evolution to gain an even better edge over Mareanie and Toxapex is currently highly debated. Some argue that all it needs is its dentition and that that's already doing a great job as is, while others point out that using Psychic is a great tool to catch Mareanie that would be out of the water, thus unreachable for a purely Water-based Pokémon like Bruxish.

But let's not stray too far from Mareanie. Its gloomy expression and slow movement are hiding one of the most cruel predatory methods of the animal reign. This Pokémon usually crawls around and feeds on Corsola horns that have detached, but when it spots potential prey, it displays incredibly aggressive behavior for its size. First, it lunges forward, head first, hoping to hit the opposing Pokémon with its main poisonous sting. If that's a success, then the game is won for Mareanie: it just has to wait for the poison to act, then finish its prey off with its 10 spiny tentacles. Once the poor soon-to-be-meal is done for, Mareanie can eat it without a care. If Mareanie didn't manage to inject its poison, it will either try to run away or retry, depending on a variety of factors like the opposing Pokémon's size and weight, if it was merely a whiff or if it really did bounce off an armor that's tougher than expected, and probably many more factors that are still unknown to this day. However, since Mareanie has poor mobility, it will rarely successfully run away from a Pokémon it angered, though the poisonous spines usually are enough of a deterrent for most Pokémon.

Finally, Mareanie shares an ability with the Staryu evolution line: the ability to regenerate its body. While not as global as Staryu, since it can't regenerate if its head was damaged, Mareanie can regrow any limbs (mostly tentacles) it lost overnight, which helps it both as an offensive tool, since it can lunge pretty recklessly without having to worry much about its own body, and as a defensive tool since "sacrificing" some of its body to escape isn't that much of a deal for this Pokémon.

Pyukumuku

Lyd: Pyukumuku developed a very unique system to defend themselves by expelling their inner organ system in a way to punch potential predators if they ever feel endangered. Pyukumuku's inner organs can take on various shapes, but the most common one oddly resembles a fist. The main hypothesis is that the fist format has average aerodynamics but a big surface of contact, which lets it apply more pressure. This is further evidenced by the fact that Pyumumuku's ancestors did perform a similar move, but the inner organs were released just to scare away predators. On another note, Pyukumuku also seems to be able to produce a liquid full of enzymes that can help most Pokémon heal status conditions. Pyukumuku's enzymes speed up the healing process immensely. This attribute can be mostly seen on its signature move: Purify. The move is also known for clearing up water, but there's still a lack of research to determine just how much these Pokémon can reduce water pollution. Many cities plan on using them to diminish pollution issues caused by the growing population of Poison-types in urban environments.

On a different subject, Pyukumuku was one of the first Pokémon to actually develop an endoskeleton, which eventually led to the surge of the Chordata group, which includes us, humans. While Pyukumuku and other Pokémon labelled under the Echinoderm group may look closer to Cnidaria such as Corsola, Pyukumuku are actually a lot more genetically close to Chordata. An interesting way to view this information is by the perspective that the first Chordata were actually very similar to what we now call a Lileep, and these are remarkably similar to Pyukumuku as well. The main confusion here comes from the fact that Echinoderms lost their bilateral symmetry, which we see on Insects and most Chordata, their closer relatives, making the Echinoderm group look like the odd one out, when in actuality they are closer to the Insect and Chordata groups. As we can see with Lileep again, early Chordata didn't regain bilateral symmetry; it was only regained with species similar to the modern Eelektrik. But recent theories also state that the larvae of Lileep already had bilateral symmetry, but considering the fact that Lileep is extinct, it's tough to extract this information even with fossil revival techniques.

Shallow Waters

Dragalge

TMan87: Dragalge seems like a strangely large Pokémon to lurk in shallow waters, given that it's almost 2m tall. However, this Pokémon managed to adapt to its environment and now stealthily hides in the various algae fields found in the sea. While admittedly its pre-evolution Skrelp hunts closer to coasts due to its smaller size, Dragalge still likes shallow waters where it can easily hide in the mix of mud and sand, basically rendering it invisible to any prey.

Dragalge is probably a relative of the Horsea family, as they share their peculiar "vertical" swimming stance, which is really uncommon among water-dwelling Pokémon, as well as the Dragon typing once fully evolved. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to speculate that they have a common ancestor, though the Dragalge family seems to have evolved towards a more offensive and predatorial approach, whereas the Horsea family is more balanced or focused on defense, given that Seadra's poisonous scales (since they are said to cause "numbness" and sometimes even "fainting") are mostly used for protection, and its incredible mobility is better seen when fleeing from aggressive opponents rather than hurrying towards a prey. However, there is another strong candidate for a place in that family tree: Dhelmise. As surprising as it sounds given the vast morphological difference between the two species, Dragalge and Dhelmise seem to get along rather well, which may indicate a past symbiotic relationship. Besides, Dragalge's algae camouflage suit and Dhelmise's appearance are very reminiscent of each other, suggesting the two entities may have been the same one day. While there isn't much evidence supporting this at the time of this article, it is entirely possible that, thousands of years ago, a specific Dhelmise gave birth to, or maybe changed into, a proto-Dragalge using its seaweed in another fashion than what is currently common. Perhaps it even took control of a passing Seadra or Kingdra, fusing both DNAs together and creating the first Dragalge ever.

Hypotheses aside, Dragalge wouldn't be that fearsome of a predator if all it had was its camouflage ability. However, its most deadly weapon, used to instantly kill prey, is its incredibly potent poisonous breath. This toxin has been reported as strong enough to melt metal, which is particularly impressive and would certainly instantly render any small- to medium-sized Water-type Pokémon lifeless. But then, an enigma emerged: given that Dragalge frequently hunts near coasts, and if its toxin is that powerful, how come most coasts aren't a toxic swamp where bathing would cost you part of your body? The answer lies, once again, in evolutionary adaptation. A toxin that strong wouldn't be of use to Dragalge if it floated around for a long time after it killed its prey: the Pokémon would run the risk of wiping out every living being in the vicinity, therefore removing all potential sources of nutrition and also killing the very algae that allow it to camouflage with such efficiency.

That's why Dragalge's toxins are very powerful but also very quickly neutralized due to an agent within that reacts to seawater a few seconds after it has been expulsed, deactivating the toxin and breaking it down into harmless molecules. This way, Dragalge can still take on a variety of prey and ward off potential predators while keeping collateral damage to a minimum.

Horsea

Lyd: While my fellow coworker and biologist TMan87 has already touched on the vertical stance of swimming of the Horsea and Skrelp lines, I'd like to take another approach as to how that came about. Surprisingly, Horsea is known to share some DNA similarities with Barboach of all things. The evolutionary theory behind this is that fossils from a prehistorical Pokémon show us the missing link of these two oddly unique lines: a creature very similar to Barboach seemed to have evolved the prehensile tail we now see on Horsea to help it latch on to rocks and better deal with currents. Our fossil record also tracks the creation of the bone plates that make up the rings that structure the bodies of Horsea and its relatives. Eventually, time left a Pokémon nearly identical to Horsea, but with a horizontal swimming stance instead. The most accepted theory of what lead to this verticalization is that Horsea would adapt better to shallower habitats in a method of camouflage to resemble seaweed more (they may not look like one at all, but you have to remember the eyesight of their predators is very limited). You can see how the Skrelp line made use of a similar feature but in an even stronger fashion; however, it's still up for debate whether the Skrelp line is closer to the Horsea family, which would put it in the animal kingdom, or the Dhelmise family, categorizing it as an algae. This debate is probably unclear mostly due to the sparseness of fossils from Skrelp and Dragalge, as their bodies are very difficult to get fossilized.

Back to Horsea though—its limited mobility in water due to the aforementioned vertical swimming stance also gave it the need to come up with extra tools for survival. This is a likely explanation for the development of its ink shooting system. Horsea can shoot ink and distract predators, and considering that the main habitat it can be found in are coral reefs, it can hide behind algae and leave its predator clueless by releasing ink. Another interesting detail about the Horsea family is that unlike all known Pokémon, the male is responsible for taking care of the eggs. It's a great evolutionary trick that lets the father take care of the offspring while the mother spends its resources to create more eggs. Some quick words about Horsea's evolutions though—Seadra makes up for its bigger size, making it easier to spot and prey on, by having a poisonous body that few predators know how to get around. The flaps it adds to its body also help immensely with mobility, making Seadra surprisingly fast. Lastly, Kingdra is capable of creating massive whirlpools capable of sinking even the sturdiest of ships, so it can definitely handle most Pokémon that would try to attack it in the marine environment.

Seafloor

Clawitzer

TMan87: Clawitzer is a really interesting Pokémon because its hunting method is unheard of in the rest of the Pokémon world. This Pokémon doesn't need blistering speed, razor-like jaws, or poison to catch its prey. All it uses it a little bit of camouflage... and its amazing right pincer (though some Clawitzer are left pincered). It is pretty obvious this Pokémon progressively made its pincer more and more powerful, to the point where it's larger than its actual body!

Clawitzer usually rests on the seabed, often within cavities where it can easily spot potential prey passing by. Whenever this happens, the pincer goes into action. Since it's almost entirely made of muscular tissue, Clawitzer can contract it at blazing speed. This results in the pincer quickly closing, which brutally compresses the water within, creating cavitation. In the cavitation bubble, the temperature reaches several thousand degrees Kelvin, while the pressure generated sends a shockwave around. Needless to say, by then whatever was at the other end of the pincer is at best stunned, allowing Clawitzer to easily finish it off, or outright killed by the cavitation bubble.

In fact, when testing out its power, it appeared the water pressure was strong enough to dismantle steel, which testifies to the terrifying power lying in the pincer. Clawitzer itself isn't affected due to how heavily armored this body part is, likely once again a product of evolution, since damaging itself while preying wouldn't be a very efficient strategy.

Truly, Clawitzer is only defined by its pincer. Fortunately for the Pokémon, it also has other uses. As researched, the pincer includes a small hole at the back. Expelling the water through such a small opening leads to an enormous water flow, allowing Clawitzer to dart around in the water. This is really useful both for quickly evading a predator and closing in on prey, though it'd still have to 'recharge' before firing again with the pincer. As such, it is probably used primarily to flee, though this only happens if Clawitzer is far away from its cavern. Otherwise, it can just retreat within its cavity, keeping itself out of range from larger predators. On the other hand, few smaller Pokémon wouldn't dare challenge a Clawitzer if they don't have the surprise factor going for them due to the sheer power of the pincer, so Clawitzer are usually left alone when they're near their base.

Finally, it isn't uncommon to see Clawitzer partnering up with Finneon and more rarely Lumineon, since the latter can get rid of the remnants of Clawitzer's meals by eating them, thus cleaning the pincer—something Clawitzer can't do on its own.

Deep Waters

Jellicent

Lyd: They may not look like it, but Jellicent are some of the smarter sea-dwelling Pokémon, something you don't quite see with its relatives in Tentacool and Nihilego. Most of Jellicent's systems are fairly undeveloped, but its neural system is one of the most developed out there. For one example, Jellicent usually follow ships and trick the sailors into taking the ship exactly where Jellicent want. They then proceed to sink the ship in order to align it perfectly with the other thousands of ships they have already sunk, creating a fortress of sorts made up of shipwrecks, several of which have been documented in deep waters already. Another thing Jellicent love to do is mimic the human lifestyle in a way, as they can float in air as well, and they often go to cities to observe the human behavior and mimic them underwater. Thus, they mold their own bodies to have human characteristics, and this is part of the explanation of the big difference in the appearance of both genders, as they probably went a bit overboard in their human mimicry. They also love to steal clothing and accessories found in shipwrecks. Male Jellicent love stealing items such as top hats and monocles, whereas female Jellicent steal necklaces, earrings, and wristlets.

Despite their hostility to humans, Jellicent may prove quite important to us in the future. You see, Jellicent is technically biology immortal. They begin their lives as a larvae form sheltered by the egg that protects them until they're ready to break free as a Frillish. After gathering enough power, Frillish will then evolve into Jellicent as per usual but here's the catch: when a Jellicent is submitted to environmental stress, sickness, or severe age, they will revert back to a Frillish, continuing this cycle forever. They are the only instance of a Pokémon known to "de-evolve". This lets them be young and potentially live forever, provided they aren't preyed upon. This method is done through the process of transdifferentiation, which changes the poll of DNA that Jellicent's cells would use, turning them into Frillish cells instead. This process also renews their telomere, which shields their DNA from deterioration, something no other Pokémon can do. Current studies are looking to examine how Jellicent can perform this biology-defying trick, or granting itself perpetual youth, but it will still take quite a while before we can adapt this technique to humans.

Sharpedo

TMan87: There's little to no introduction to be done for Sharpedo. Perhaps one of the most fearsome marine predators there are, Sharpedo's entire being is built for one method and one method only: hunt, kill, and devour.

Its body is the pinnacle of hydrodynamics, owing notably to its general shape and skin. Sharpedo's body is overall rather "pointy" and streamlined, resulting in a better water penetration coefficient, minimizing friction and allowing higher maximal speeds. Its skin is probably the result of countless years of adaptation culminating in a bizarre property: it is extremely rough to the touch, enough to damage skin if enough force is applied (this may help the Pokémon in its preying, but more on that later), yet has next to zero water friction. Scientists researching Sharpedo skin believe it may be hydrophobic, meaning the water would simply slide off of it, heightening Sharpedo's top speed even more... but that's not all! To ensure no prey can escape it, Sharpedo has a third tool in case it wants a sudden burst of speed: it can absorb seawater (likely through the mouth) and brutally release it through a small hole in its rear to propel itself, not unlike Clawitzer. All of this combined lets Sharpedo reach a known top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph), far more than any other sea Pokémon and even far more than what the average human can use to travel the sea, which explains why so many Alolan Trainers use Sharpedo as a locomotion device. On the flip side though, this means Sharpedo is more of a sprinter than an endurance runner, since it can't maintain such high speeds for long and will quickly exhaust itself if trying to do so.

So, Sharpedo can go fast, that much is certain. The thing is, this speed is but a means to an end: catching its prey. To that end, Sharpedo can rely on its sense of smell, its eyes, and its fangs.

Sharpedo's sense of smell is so acute it can track a drop of blood from miles away. Preying on weakened or wounded Pokémon is its favorite method of getting a meal, as the poor prey can't hide anywhere once Sharpedo has detected its blood. Even if they try to hide in a small crevice or something of the sort, Sharpedo will simply patiently wait for them to come out, except if they smell another prey nearby. This is especially dangerous for swimmers who hurt themselves while in the water: they risk attracting a Sharpedo—or, Arceus forbid, several of them.

If no wounded prey is detected, Sharpedo will probably still get something in its belly, since its sense of vision, while not as impressive as its sense of smell, is still fairly useful to spot prey. As with most predators, Sharpedo's vision is movement based, but since it would have trouble localizing small Pokémon with it, it's mostly used to spot either large prey like Wailord, which moves slowly but is hard to miss, or medium-sized Pokémon like Gorebyss, Lumineon, Seaking, and even in some occasions Octillery, depending on the region.

Sharpedo's fangs are absolutely deadly: they are razor sharp and their surface is full of little hook-like formations, ensuring it'll quickly cut through prey while minimizing the risk of escapes. Sharpedo's jaw is strong enough to tear apart iron like it's nothing, so flesh and bones don't stand a chance against it. Even hard shells like Clamperl's are no match for this monstrosity of a jaw! To add to its lethal potential, if Sharpedo loses a fang during preying or after a fight, it'll regrow almost immediately, effectively allowing Sharpedo to have an incredible amount of fangs. Given the efficiency of this Pokémon's hunting method, I guess unlimited fangs works.

I'd like to say a word about Sharpedo's skin and its utility in preying: it is possible the Pokémon's skin is rough to enhance its preying success rate. By merely grazing against prey at high speeds, Sharpedo's rough skin can damage its prey, which has two advantages for the Pokémon: the prey may get injured, limiting its mobility and escape options, but even if that's not the case, it's likely it will bleed. As we said before, once Sharpedo has smelled your blood, you pretty much have to outrace it to not be torn to shreds... and that's something most of Sharpedo's meals can't do. However, this matter is still under research.

Finally, let's not forget that, as deadly, cruel, and menacing as it is, wild Sharpedo are hit hard by overfishing, and their population has been steadily declining for a while now. Interregional Pokémon safety agencies like the Aether Foundation have already raised their voices to stop this phenomenon, and hopefully their endeavor will come into fruition in the years to come.

Abyss

Lanturn

TMan87: As we're heading into the abyssal realm, let me warn you: the rules down there are much stricter than in most of the animal realm. Most notably, light is scarce if present at all, turning the food chain upside down: without light, very few plants can survive, which means herbivores don't have much to eat, which means carnivores are on a diet as well. One of such light sources is Lanturn. Now, Lanturn's luminescence is a case of symbiosis, a subject my colleague Lyd is very knowledgeable about. Lanturn hosts several bacteria within its luminescent orbs. Under normal circumstances, when Lanturn's light is "turned off," for lack of a better term, these bacteria feed on the Pokémon's energy reserves, taking just what they need to survive and multiply. In this case, their metabolism (notably, carbon metabolism) is relatively similar to any other bacteria, only very slow. That way, the bacterial population never reaches a critical threshold, and should they approach this limit, Lanturn will use a special set of muscles to expel some of them into the sea. Why must they not reach this limit? Because that'd activate bioluminescence. Don't worry, I'll explain: when Lanturn injects a special body fluid within the orbs, bacterial metabolism has been shown to speed up greatly, and bacterial reproduction rates rapidly increase. Once the bacterial population reaches said critical threshold, their metabolism shifts and they start producing luciferin, thereby leading to Lanturn's orbs glowing bright. It is speculated Lanturn's special body fluid is a nutrient-rich liquid such as glycogen, used to activate the bacteria's anabolic pathways and, thus, reproduction and multiplication.

Obviously there's an upside for Lanturn as well: while the Pokémon is good natured and will sometimes use its light in a charitable manner, it is primarily its hunting tool. As I said, light is scarce in the abyss, which means most Pokémon there either have no eyes (see Relicanth's body) or eyes that adapted to see when it's almost pitch black. For this kind of eyes, even a moderate light is absolutely blinding—and Lanturn's can be seen from three miles below the surface! Before going in-depth on how this Pokémon preys on small and large Pokémon alike, we need to talk about another tool it has: electromagnetism. Lanturn is part Electric-type because the Pokémon has an innate control over electromagnetism, which is a real asset in a world where you can't see your surroundings. Sensing electromagnetic waves emitted by other creatures is key both to prey and avoid predators, since every wave is different and Lanturn is very efficient at decrypting which Pokémon emits which wave. Indeed, every living being emits an electromagnetic field with its nervous impulses, something that can be intercepted and decrypted. Such waves are received by a small part of its brain then converted into visual information, kind of like what Golbat or other echolocation users do. After that, the Pokémon "sees" a 3D representation of its immediate location, complete with nearby lifeforms.

So, here's how Lanturn's hunting day plays out: it swims around, lights out, trying to sense potential prey and avoid predators using electromagnetic waves. Once it spots a prey, it tracks it down as stealthily as possible, a task made easier by said electromagnetic sense. When it gets close enough, it injects its special body fluid within its orbs, leading to rapid bacterial growth.

The bacteria inside the orbs reach the critical threshold, then begin emitting light. Keep in mind the whole lighting process lasts only a few milliseconds! As the prey lives in the abyss, it isn't used to such blinding light and is stunned, trying to process the sensory overload. This leaves Lanturn with two options to finish the job: either the prey is small enough to be swallowed whole (Lanturn can distend its mouth and stomach if needed, granting it the ability to swallow deceptively large prey), or, if it really is too much, it can shock it to death with an electric jolt. In both cases, the hunt was successful.

Malamar

Lyd: Malamar is quite a frightening Pokémon; it has several attributes that will make you think twice before getting near one of them. Malamar are mostly deep sea dwellers, usually living below the two thousand feet mark, but during the night they undergo a typical vertical migration that leaves them close to the shore, meaning that it can be quite dangerous in shallow waters at dusk and dawn to stumble into one of these. You might be wondering what makes them so dangerous, and there are several factors, with the number one being their hypnotic abilities. Malamar have several organs that are responsible for changing their body coloration. This organ has several cells specialized in light production, making up a phenomenon called bioluminescence, which is when a living being generates light via chemical reactions. A molecule called luciferin oxidates with the aid of an enzyme called the luciferase, which creates a bright light all across Malamar's body. It usually flashes red and white lights (which explains Malamar's colloquial nickname of Red Devil), especially when hunting, but Malamar can flash several other colors. They are also known to switch colors extremely rapidly, to the point where a human eye can't perceive the transition and just sees a dazzling flash. This blistering color change is key to their powers of hypnotization. Their light emission is also a big portion of their communication, which is probably why they signal specific colors when hunting, and we can assume they do the same with other activities as well. That's also likely the reason they don't welcome electronic devices underwater, as their flashing light often destroys the likes of cameras in a matter of seconds. In fact, most accidents involving Malamar and humans have something to do with cameras or similar devices.

Malamar is also quite an aggressive Pokémon. It attacks anything from humans to moderately sized Pokémon, usually in swarms. Another behavior observed by Malamar is its jaw-dropping intelligence. Malamar is by far one of the smartest Pokémon out there, only losing out to the likes of Alakazam, Slowking, Metagross, and the very deity of knowledge: Uxie. Malamar's origin is also quite interesting—they deviated from a group of Pokémon called ammonoids (which includes notably Omanyte and Omastar) by losing the ammonoids' trademark shell. At the end of the Cretaceous period though, most baby ammonoids were harmed by more acidic waters, which ended up extinguishing all ammonoid species. Then, the squids and octopuses that were forced to live in the ocean's depths now could rise to shallow waters and dominate the seas, eventually giving birth to what we now call Malamar.

Conclusion

Lyd:
I hope that this article provided a different perspective on the aquatic ambient of the Pokémon world. By virtue of our species living on the land, we don't get to see these aquatic Pokémon as often as their water-dwelling counterparts, so several of their behaviors can come off as a surprise. And truly, anywhere from the shores to the depths of the sea, there are so many unique Pokémon out there!

HTML by XnadrojX | Script by HoeenHero.

« Previous Article