Brown Knifetrout

• Head small with big black eyes; jaw antero-dorsally high and posteriorly thin.

 

• Masseter starting directly from the maxillar gap and attaching to the beginning of the dentary.

• Very clear mandibular foramens can be seen in the dentary fossa.

• Presence of prehensile palatolingualis apparatus.

 

• Pectoral fins oar shaped; homerus able to rotate to a pronate posture and back.

 

• 8 single Anals on the ventral section of the tail; 11 Single Dorsals on the dorsal section of the tail.

 

• Tail High with large Epaxial and Hypaxial muscles.

• Gill fan with high ridges and very evident caudal drop.

 

• Upper Caudal fin atrophied, Lower Caudal fin elongated, as long as the tail itself.

Seasonal Monogamy.   Remuspinna pedalionmorphus mates in the spring, one to two months before the start of the mating season for most terrestrial amphibians of the area.   The females will attract possible mates by spraying in the water hyperconcentrated sexual hormones.   Males from all around the area will be attacted by the chemical trail to the female's nest. One after the other the males will fight eachother for the right to mate; the males will fight for the female by circling eachother and slapping the contendant's body with the pectoral fins; sometimes fights can become really violent and transfer on land, where the males will try to bite the opponent's face with the venomous teeth in a contest of who has the biggest mouth spread.   When all the other males have been defeated, the remaining male will mate with the female.   The mating happens inside the nest, a hole dug near the shore by the female using her ventral fins.   Mating takes around twenty minutes; the female will incubate the eggs inside the ducts for three to four days before laying them in the nest; once the eggs have been laid the female will leave the nest and caves it in, blocking the entrance; she will soon abandon the nesting site.   The eggs hatch after seven weeks and the spawns (two to five) will dig their way out of it and swim free in the fjord.   During the first stage of their life, these amphibians will stay closer to the shore than the adults as mating season for terrestrial amphibians will soon come to a close, meaning plenty of food for the youg Remuspinna pedalionmorphus.

At birth, a young Remuspinna pedalionmorphus will differ greatly compard to an adult.   Heavy ontogenic changes occur during growth such as the drastic change in head size, becoming smaller as the animal grows old and the loss of claws in the pectoral fins, used by th ehatchling to dig its way out of the nest; they will also see a progressive atrophization of the upper caudal fin.   The loss of the natal aculeus happens moments after birth, they come out of the nest already without it.

Adult Remuspinna pedalionmorphus live in the open waters of the Fjord, hunting both bottom dwelling and free swimming amphibians of medium to large size; adults will often approach the shores to hunt, mate and rest on land.   Jouveniles will prefer the litoral waters, staying close to shore gets them access to terrestrial amphibians as well.   Overall Remuspinna pedalionmorphus prefers muddy waters with low visibility in which they can camouflage better.

Remuspinna pedalionmorphus is a superpredator of its area.   It feeds on medium to large sized aquatic amphibians and on terrestrial amphibians coming to the Fjord to drink.   This amphibian posesses a powerful venom in its bite that provokes paralysis in the local fauna (provokes a strong anaphylactic shock in humans).

An average Remuspinna pedalionmorphus reaches sexual fertility at one year of age and sexual sterility at seventeen.   Growing older the skin wont be able to keep up with the increase in body mass; older specimens have stretch marks all over their bodies.

Territorial animals.   They don't tolerate conspecifics in the same territory outside of mating season and resting areas.

Not tamable; this animal can be seen in some public aquariums in specialized tanks that recreate their wild habitat.

Their need of soft muddy sediment near the shore for nesting puts them at risk due to industrial exploitation of its nesting sites for building materials.   The venom extracted from their teeth is used in medicine.

Prince's Fjord  

Relies on Echolocation by specialized foramens found inside the dentary fossa. Sight is most useful when on land.

Affected by the Mudcrack parasite.