Cruncher

 Cruncher

Habitat: Ring Sea
Type: Herbivorous Marine Reptile
Length: 15 to 18 Feet
Weight: 900 to 1,600 Pounds

Lone Cruncher In Sea Grass Forest









The Cruncher is a common animal in the sea grass forests that cover large parts of the Ring Sea. It is most often found moving slowly through these underwater fields in small groups, feeding as it goes. These groups, usually made up of a few individuals, stay close together and travel steadily through areas where food is thickest.

It gets its name from the sound it makes while feeding. The Cruncher uses a set of rounded, heavy teeth to pluck and crush the tough seed pods that grow along the long strands of sea grass. These pods appear to make up its entire diet. With each bite producing a cracking noise that can carry through the water, a group of these animals feeding can be a very noisy thing. 

Cruncher Feeding On Seed Pods














The body is long and smooth, built for steady swimming rather than speed. It moves easily through dense growth, weaving between the strands as it feeds. Its shape suggests a close relation to the larger Hydra and the more slender Frilled Serpent, though its behavior is very different from either. It does seem to be the only member of its family that is an herbivore.

Like most animals in the Ring Sea, the Cruncher is not safe from predators. Adults are food for larger predators, most notably packs of Hydra, as well as the Greater Sea Dragon and the Sea Serpent. Smaller individuals are at greater risk, and are often targeted by Razorjaws and the White Teratorn, which will strike from above and carry them off when possible.

Cruncher Under Attack From
A Greater Sea Dragon








  • Naturalist Note: The Cruncher is readily identifiable as Globidens, a genus of mosasaurid distinguished by its highly specialized dentition. Unlike the blade-like teeth seen in most mosasaurs, Globidens possesses rounded, crushing teeth, now known to be adapted for a fully herbivorous diet consisting of the durable seed pods of marine vegetation. This represents a significant ecological departure from the other two known mosasaurs such as the Hydra (likely Mosasaurus or Tylosaurus) and Frilled Serpent (possibly Clidastes or Halisaurus), both of which are predatory.

    The other predators that are mentioned here have likely identities as well. The Greater Sea Dragon appears to be a large genus of pliosaur. The Razorjaw seems to be similar in some ways to another mosasaur, but Daniel's other records suggest a marine crocodile instead. 

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