| Octopus giganteus | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Naming | |||
| Others | Kraken | ||
| Morphology | |||
| Body type | Cephalopodic | ||
| Intelligence | |||
| Sapience | Non-Sapient | ||
| Ecology | |||
| Behind the Scenes | |||
| Universe | Kronos Rising | ||
Octopus giganteus, better known as the Kraken, is featured heavily in the Kronos Rising novel series by Max Hawthorne. Specifically, in the Kraken trilogy. They are based on numerous anecdotal reports of real giant octopi. The real species, i.e. the Triassic Kraken, evolved during the Triassic period to feed on giant Ichthyosaur genera like Shonisaurus and Shastasaurus. Somehow, the giant cephalopod species outlived its original prey animal and survived all the way up to the present, where it feeds on unwary sperm whales that dive too deep.
Description[]
Appearance[]
Similar to a giant Pacific Octopus, but can grow to be the size of a blue whale or larger.
Size[]
The males of this species are typically smaller than the females. Even then, they are enormous enough to feed on sperm whales. The male in the novels measures 120 feet in length and the female is even bigger. The tentacle span of one reported specimen was 200 feet, making it the world's largest known invertebrate, to be sure.
Abilities[]
Octopus giganteus are not only big and bad, they're smart. In one of the novels, for example, one uses its own severed tentacle protruding from an ink cloud to trick an anti-biologic submarine it is battling. Like the smaller octopi species, they can also change color and shape. They can squirt ink clouds to confuse their prey or anything foolish enough to try to attack them. Lastly, their suckers exude a powerful digestive enzyme - an acid that helps them grip prey All this makes them lethal masters of ambush. They have to be, too. It's the whole key to their survival. If an individual is lucky, it will live to be 100 years old before dying of natural causes.
Behavior[]
Diet[]
A true top predator, it feeds on Megalodon sharks, whales, and humans, when natural prey starts to become scarce. Usually, anything that dares to oppose it just adds itself to the menu.
Reproduction[]
The male and female will take turns guarding the nursery of eggs while one guards and the other feeds. Octopus giganteus will normally make lay the eggs in a large and empty cavern underwater. A lot of eggs are laid, as is normal with any octopi species.
Attacks on humans[]
Whenever the natural prey becomes scarce, Octopus giganteus will venture from the depths and into the shallows to feed on humans aboard their ships. In the world of Kronos Rising, this explains the legend of the Kraken. In one of the books Hawthorne wrote, after its nest was destroyed, a female of the species tracked the attackers back to their submarine base in Tartarus where it laid siege to the facility, killing everything in its way. Talk about an angry mother!