Helicoprion are fish in Additional Creatures.
Synopsis
A deep-sea "SuperChimera" that, despite its massive size and intimidating tooth whorl, is not a hostile predator of survivors. Sleek and intimidating, these dark-water predators mean no harm to survivors unless disturbed. Their tooth whorl, while intimidating and painful to be bitten by, is not the deadliest pair of jaws in the deep. Far from it actually. While the opening and closing of the jaws mimics saw rotation, this creature is far from an armor-shredding maniac or bleed-inducing assassin of the deep. Rather, it is an extremely specialized predator which preys mostly on soft-bodied organisms such as smaller fish and invertibrates (mainly cephalopods). While painful on normal creatures, the jaws are EXCRUCIATING on these target organisms, inflicting incredible amounts of pain as the natural saw-structure pulls and rips flesh from bone and shell alike. When domesticated, these fish-eating predators are viable specialized mounts. Their damage is mediocre in combat and they can even be taught to use their long tails to defend against rear assailants. However, most crucially is their evolved hyper-predation into specific targets. While damage is mediocre against normal targets, the excruciating damage inflicted towards specified organisms makes Helicoprion a solid counter towards some of the deep's more boneless residents! On the more passive side, their unique jaw and whorl mechanics and design can be used to natural effectiveness to harvest larger amounts of prime fish meat as well!
Color Regions
Color Region 0 - Underside
Color Region 2 - Pattern
Color Region 3 - Tip of Snout
Color Region 5 - Main Body
X Variant -
Color Region 0 - Underside
Color Region 2 - Stripes
Color Region 5 - Main Body
Base Stats, Controls, and Abilities
| Attribute | Base Stat |
|---|---|
| Health | 380 |
| Stamina | 400 |
| Food | 1150 |
| Weight | 400 |
| Melee Damage | 175% |
| Movement Speed | 100% |
| Torpidity | 700 |
Left Click - Bite
25 Base Damage
Deals 7x Damage to the following:
- Small Fish
- Ammonite
- Electric Eel
- Giant Angler Fish
- Jellyfish
- Manta Ray
- Tusoteuthis
- Titan Sailfish
Right Click - Thrash
30 Base Damage - Hits Twice - Has a slight cooldown
Helicoprion has a gathering bonus on prime fish meat.
The weight of prime fish meat and tusoteuthis tentacles are reduced in a Helicoprion's inventory.
Notes/Trivia
- Helicoprion means "Spiral Saw" after its signature jaw structure.
- Despite its popularity, Helicoprion's appearance and size is the subject of obscurity, due to the fact that not only are remains outside of the spirals extremely rare. but remains are also generally very scattered.
- Despite its appearance, Helicoprion is not a shark. It is a member of a group of now-extinct cartilaginous fish called eugeneodonts, which are all known for their bizarre jaw structures. While still related to sharks, they are closer related to ratfish.
- Helicoprion's spiral saw was debated for decades as to what it was on the body of the animal. Many thought it was a extendable whip-like structure that was winded up when not used, whether it be on the creature's jaw, lip, or tail. However, it is now known that the spiral saw functioned as a complicated tooth replacement structure, with the teeth at the top being on the lower jaw used to attack prey.
- The spiral saw of helicoprion is believed to be an adaptation for hunting soft-bodied prey, like squid. This is reflected in the mod.
- Helicoprion in Additional Creatures has parallels to modern ratfish in ecology, being a rare fish found in deep depths.
- Helicoprion, despite its obscurity, seemed to have been a very common and successful animal, having a worldwide distribution throughout the entirety of the Permian: from the end of the Carboniferous to the Permian Extinction Event.
