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Description
The Kāpèzh-nē (Dermosiagon citrus) is a Dermognathid Paleostome Ichthyomorph from the Gulf Sea.

The only remaining member of its superfamily, the Kāpèzh-nē is truly fascinating due to the collection of primitive traits it displays, lost in most other clades inside its order.

The first mandible pair, still covered by a thin sheath of dermal armour and skin, is connected to the skull through the M. Masseter Ocularis.
The contraction of this muscle forces the mandibles into an upward motion, angling the mandibular dents to face inward-up while closing, perfect to puncture prey in the filtration sac beneath the body.

The Kāpèzh-nē, contrary to its closest relatives (Zymarikosomoids and Tubercolostomatosoids) possesses a long thin tuberculus, unable to create the necessary force to penetrate the prey's skin.
Instead, this animal will turn the mandibles inside its prey to enlarge the puncture wounds and use those as entrance points for the tuberculus, getting deep into the prey's respiratory canal and injecting its gastric fluids directly against the lung's entrance.

This unique hunting style probably originated in the superfamily around 63 million years ago.
The group underwent a sudden dietary shift, from smaller-sized under-reef predators to larger macropredators, in response to the disappearance of the major Enetodontian players in the area.

The Kāpèzh-nē is also particularly famous for its intraspecific niche variation, with males a little shy from being only half the female's size and living a more gregarious lifestyle in the inner section of the reef, compared to the more solitary females.

The species is now endangered as the female population was decimated from sportfishing.
Recent field studies discovered the severity of the situation, estimating that there was a female for every hundred males and decreasing.

The name Kāpèzh-nē is of Precursor origins and was adopted by humans upon discovery of a document on the species found in a cave west of Gleann Blathànna.

Join the community:

discord.gg/Ss24Yme

Description
The Kāpèzh-nē (Dermosiagon citrus) is a Dermognathid Paleostome Ichthyomorph from the Gulf Sea.

The only remaining member of its superfamily, the Kāpèzh-nē is truly fascinating due to the collection of primitive traits it displays, lost in most other clades inside its order.

The first mandible pair, still covered by a thin sheath of dermal armour and skin, is connected to the skull through the M. Masseter Ocularis.
The contraction of this muscle forces the mandibles into an upward motion, angling the mandibular dents to face inward-up while closing, perfect to puncture prey in the filtration sac beneath the body.

The Kāpèzh-nē, contrary to its closest relatives (Zymarikosomoids and Tubercolostomatosoids) possesses a long thin tuberculus, unable to create the necessary force to penetrate the prey's skin.
Instead, this animal will turn the mandibles inside its prey to enlarge the puncture wounds and use those as entrance points for the tuberculus, getting deep into the prey's respiratory canal and injecting its gastric fluids directly against the lung's entrance.

This unique hunting style probably originated in the superfamily around 63 million years ago.
The group underwent a sudden dietary shift, from smaller-sized under-reef predators to larger macropredators, in response to the disappearance of the major Enetodontian players in the area.

The Kāpèzh-nē is also particularly famous for its intraspecific niche variation, with males a little shy from being only half the female's size and living a more gregarious lifestyle in the inner section of the reef, compared to the more solitary females.

The species is now endangered as the female population was decimated from sportfishing.
Recent field studies discovered the severity of the situation, estimating that there was a female for every hundred males and decreasing.

The name Kāpèzh-nē is of Precursor origins and was adopted by humans upon discovery of a document on the species found in a cave west of Gleann Blathànna.

Join the community:

discord.gg/Ss24Yme