Geb - The Ultrapisces

Please note that the animals shown above are not to scale

Overview
Ultrapisces were the names given to these gigantic animals that dwell exclusively in the oceans of Geb. The name was meant to accent on the fact that they were, on average, larger than the Superpisces. However, Ultrapisces are not related to the Piscivultuses or the Pteropods. They are marine Cranidons and their closest relatives are animals such as the Dazzler or the Blue Spearnail Sentinel. What gives away their origins is the rows of skull extensions within their mouths.
These structures are unique to the Cranidons as they are not designed to grab or hold. They bear an identical shape to the molars of seals on Earth and their function is the same as well. Most Ultrapisces feed primarily by filtering: they suck in large amounts of sea water that contains plankton, marine pararthropods or sometimes small Piscivultuses (including their eggs). The mouths are then closed tightly thanks to their lips and water is forced out of the side of their mouths between the skull extensions, trapping the food inside. Food is then forced down the digestive tract thanks to the powerful tongue.
Like all other Cranidons, Ultrapisces have a seperate track for digestion and breathing. The respiratory system is still in their belly, which would make coming up for air tricky. So they have all developed a unique adaptation: all Ultrapisces swim upside down. They have evolved to swim with their backs facing down so that their blowholes can access the surface faster. This has modified how their eyesight works and can now see right-side up in that position. To put it simply, specimen #7 above does not have a large chin, it's a large forehead.

#1. Common Ultrapisce
These were the first specimens of Ultrapisce ever documented by Earth settlers. The odds of encountering them first was no surprise: according to the most modern data, Common Ultrapisces are, hence their name, the most common species of Ultrapisces on Geb7. They also travel in large pods near the surface, making a lot of noise as they swim, which made them more likely to be spotted.
The Common Ultrapisce fit the basic design of all Ultrapisces. They have a large but slender body for swimming, their front legs serve for balance while the rear legs have been modified into flippers for propulsion. This is different from Earth's whales who no longer have rear legs and propulsion in made solely by their tails. Their blue and white color scheme also provides camouflage from potential predators above and below them.
When predators do approach, adults will swim in a tight circle between the predator and any potential calf that is traveling with the pod. With luck, this should be enough to confuse the predator and force them to leave. For extremely persistent predators, the Common Ultrapisce can try to ram into them with their massive bodies. Adult Ultrapisces can grow up to 18 meters in length and weigh several tons.
The members of the pods are very close and have been observed supported wounded or dying individuals close to the surface to help them breathe. Members are only abandoned if they die. Predators more likely to cause fatalities are larger Superpisces, such as the Great Knight Superpisce.

#2. Hatchet Ultrapisce
These 25 meter long Ultrapisces spend most of their lives out in the open ocean rather than near the continents, so they were one of the last species documented. They are the largest members of their family and, along with the Icepick Ultrapisce, have traits that make them unique among other Ultrapisces. The Hatchet is not a filter feeder and feeds exclusively on megafauna such as large piscivultuses, superpisces and occasionally other ultrapisces. They hunt by stalking prey while hiding in deeper water and are able to keep track of food using their keen sense of smell and excellent eyesight.
When attacking, Hatchets ram head first into their prey, breaking bones and sometimes even cutting a large gash in their bodies. The front of their heads is narrow and covered in sharp silver scales, giving them the appearance of a hatchet. Sometimes if the Hatchet hits hard enough, the prey may even get impaled on its small "tusks". One the prey dies, the Hatchet tears off pieces of its fresh using its powerful radula.
Another unique feature of the Hatchet is that its breathing hump does not stop around the neck, but has grown and merged completely with the head. This makes its lowerjaw appear to be the same size of its forehead. When surfacing to breathe, one may mistake a Hatchet for a brown Sperm Whale.

#3. Grey Ultrapisce
A close relative of the Common Ultrapisce, the Greys are more commonly spotted in polar waters surrounding Balnea and Bruma. They are better protected from the freezing water thanks to several adaptations. First off, their flippers are shorter and slightly fused with their bodies, to reduce body surface area and therefor lose less body heat. The percentage of fat that makes up their body weight is also the highest out of all Ultrapisces, enabling them to store even more heat. Finally, their body figure is considerably rounder than other Ultrapisces, which again means less surface area where heat can escape and less drag when swimming. Being streamline is vital to save energy, especially when food may be scarce.
One may notice that Grey Ultrapisce will often have growths on their bodies, especially around the facial area. These are actually parasitic marine plants that grow on the surface of the animal's skin and steal nutrients directly from them. They're basically primitive carnivorous plants. Greys rely on specialised piscivultuses that clean their bodies of these plants and other parasytes, similar to Earth's remoras. Greys, while still growing up at 15 meters in lenght, are also preyed on larger animals, such as the Icepick Ultrapisce who it shares the freezing waters with.

#4. Colossal Ultrapisce
Growing up to 40 meters in length, the Colossal Ultrapisce is the longest marine organism on Geb, growing even bigger than Earth's Blue Whale. It is rivaled by the Imperator Homomimus which is the tallest organism on Geb. Colossal Ultrapisces have several common names given from the public including the Colossal Whale, the Titan and the Corpse Whale. Their official name was given by a xenobiologist who was a big fan of the Attack on Titan manga and found it fitting the animal shared the color scheme of the series Colossal Titan.
The color scheme itself was puzzling at first and was only understood by following a mother and her calf throughout their life together (which took several years). Calfs at birth are relatively small, about a meter long, and a born near the underwater gardens on the coast. When predators appear, the mother has the baby hide in foliage in the undersea garden and takes on the predator. Since the color red tends to look green the deeper one dives, the baby actually blends with undersea grass. Once the coast is clear, the mother calls the calf and can be easily spotted by rising back to the surface and reappearing red. Due to this strategy, it is believed that Colossal Ultrapisce have excellent color vision.
Adult Colossal Ultrapisce use their color scheme to avoid predators too. They usually dive deeper to find their food and lose their reddish color. The black and white shades remain visible however and if they can hold still enough, most predators will just see them as large skeletons with no food to offer. Ultrapisce graveyard do exist in the ocean and offer nothing but shelter for small organisms. Once danger has passed, the Colossal Ultrapisce can resume its hunt for food, which consists not only of plankton but also large piscivultus that it jabs to death using its powerful radula.

#5. Icepick Ultrapisce
Icepicks look like some alien cross between a walrus and an orca. They only grow up to 10 meters on average, making them one of the smallest Ultrapisces. Even some Superpisces outsize them. However, they behave just like orcas on Earth, hunting a variety of prey in pods, including larger Ultrapisces. They use their tusks, which are also skull extensions, to pierce ice from below the surface, ambushing prey above. Researchers claim to have witness animals actually being impaled by these tusks that seem to erupt out of the ice at tremendous speed. One researcher known for his keen eyes claims to have seen a pod of Icepicks hunt down a group of Skating Homomimuses by breaking the ice behind them, preventing them from returning to their hot spring.
Icepicks are migratory but spend most of their lives in polar waters, hunting megafauna. One of their main prey items are the calfs of Grey Ultrapisce, which they will attempt to separate from its parent in order to stab it to death. The corpse is then licked clean of its flesh by the hungry pod.
One interesting feature about the Icepick's anatomy is that its rear feet are closely merged with its tail, making it almost look exactly like a whale's tail fin. This feature is also shared with the Grey Ultrapisce.

#6. Enterprise Ultrapisce
Although it is a denizen of the deep ocean, the Enterprise Ultrapisce is relatively well studied. Their body reaches an average length of 22 meters by adulthood. However, their wide mouths can grow 7 meters wide, almost a third that length. Because they spend most of their time in deep water, food isn't as abundant, so they must catch as much as they can in one gulp. They also evolved the most skull extensions of any cranidon known, which increase the amount of space where water can be forced out of their mouths. By speeding up the filtering process, it gives them more opportunities to take another gulp of sea water.
Another adaptation to maximize food intake is their long flippers, the longest of all Ultrapisces. This allows them to make sharper turns when swimming, enabling them to keep up with food better. They also can hold their breaths for a considerable amount of time, reducing the need to resurface for air. Plankton isn't as abundant in the deep, so their main food consists of small piscivultus, marine pararthropods but also drifting seroinsolituses.
The last, most noticeable adaptation is the series of blue biolights around their mouths. These are used to lure prey to their mouths, concentrating it into a specific area and reducing the effort of going after dispersed prey. This feature is what earns it its name, since it resembles the starship enterprise from the Star Trek franchise.

#7. Plow Ultrapisce
Growing at 20 meters in length on average, the Plow Ultrapisce is relatively large for an animal that lives near the coastline and the undersea gardens. Though they do filter feed, their main source of food are animals hidden beneath the sand or hiding among the plants. Using a large "tooth" that emerges from their radula, they frisk the area for those animals and forces them to appear. The Plow Ultrapisce then swallows them whole or catches them with the brush like appendages of their tongue. Due to this feeding habit, Plows tend to rest their foreheads (that appear to us as oversized chins) onto the ground below. The rough terrain can sometimes leave scratches that, if too deep, could lure predators looking for the scent of blood. Plows are tough however, and older specimens are instantly recognizable from their scarred bodies.

#8. Long-Neck Ultrapisce
These primitive looking Ultrapisces are of high interests to Xenobiologists for multiple reasons. Some have noted that their body shape are very similar to the Plesiosaurs that used to live on Earth during the time of the dinosaurs. Since their swimming patterns are unknown, it is hoped that by studying the Long-Neck Ultrapisces that we could get clues for the behavior of our own lifeforms. However, scientists have yet to actually document Long-Necks swimming.
When first encountered, Long-Necks were actually beached on the small tundra coastline south of the Eastern Plateaus. It is currently the only location where they have been spotted. Unlike all other Ultrapisces, Long-Necks are oviparous and need to climb on the beach to hatch their egg. The egg once laid by the female is passed onto the male who wraps it in its paddle like tail to keep it warm. The parents will then take turns to keep the egg warm and raise the young when it hatches, similar to Earth's penguins. Long-Necks hunt small piscivultuses that they harpoon with their radulas, and can regurgitate some of their food in order to feed the calf.
Long-Necks could not live this way if they were as big as a Colossal Ultrapisce since their weight would crush them. But male Long-Necks only grow up to 8 meters in length while females grow up to 6 on average and both are lighter than Elephant seals. This gives them no problem to pull themselves onto the beach with their powerful flippers to raise their eggs out of reach from marine predators.
However, they are still vulnerable to land bound predators who may want to grab that egg for food. But Long-Necks have very thick skulls and tough facial osteoderms that turns their craniums into a type of battering ram. If danger comes too close, they can strike them down thanks to their heavily muscled necks and cause serious injury. To further intimidate predators, their faces have red spots on them that look like blood, making them look even more dangerous. Males actually have large crests growing out of their jaw bone that are also brightly red, but these are used to lure females for mating. Males compete for females and prime spots on the beach by wrestling with their necks.

Fun Facts
Geb's sentient creatures, the Lacertacredos, have probably never encountered Ultrapisces before
the ancestors of Ultrapisces probably had a lifestyle similar to seals during Geb's ice age. They would huddle around watering holes and only dive to hunt food. When the ice age ended, most species gave up living on land altogether.
The Long-Neck Ultrapisce is the smallest Ultrapisce known. Due to its size and lifestyle, it is believed that it has changed little since the ice age and may be the key to understanding the evolution of all Ultrapisces.

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