Crimson Knifefish

Palinurocephalus laminirostrum is a small-sized Veliculteocephalid Katatine amphibian from the Leviathan Islands.   The species is found far from the islands' shores, in the twilight zone, where it hunts smaller amphibians and cnidarovertebrates; impaling them with the jagged rostrum.   The species is among one of the few of the group that can move in reverse by switching the vacuum flux in the jet; this is only possible thanks to the movement style, not being continued but in short bursts; an evolutionary advantage used mainly to hunt.   Much like other members of its groups, P. laminirostrum uses a colour coded bioluminescence to signal an internal hierarchy; the fertile members use wavelengths most predators don't see, such as red or blue while parthenogenetic specimens use green light to be more visible, acting as a shield for the rest of the colony; what's most peculiar about the species though, is the area from which light is emitted: the gum around the teeth.   As cited above, the species has adapted to use the jets in short bursts, instead of a continued vacuum flux like in many other members of the group, giving them a more unpredictable movement pattern, closer to that of invertebrates; in the waters they are found in, where they are practically invisible, this particular adaptation is used by the animal to mimic the movement patterns of their prey's prey, luring them in through the use of the bioluminescent gum around the teeth, the reason why it's often called "the smiling dark" by local people.   Schools caught in fishermen's nets are usually from the upper depth layer of their habitat, around 200 m deep; P. laminirostrum's meat is considered of poor value but consumed especially during winter when other, more palatable, species migrated north.