One day, while out on a sailing trip, one of our research vessels conducting a regular assignment in the southern Riatis Ocean by the Baracenian coast in north Guralta picked up on a lot of commotion happening below the waves.
Their sonars detected a lot of vibrations that sounded like clicks and chirps, as well as growls, wails and even "roars".
This was not the first time we would have found a baitball event due to the commotion underwater, but this was different.
There were no aerial predators and scavengers around as one would expect during a baitball. Instead, what they saw when they send submersibles underwater was far more horrifying.
They saw an adult Brown Ebusoir (Syntrivodon fuscus), a large durophagous marine Arachnothere, being assaulted by a gang of Collared Ritsuara's (Fermourodus collaris).
No one had ever seen Ritsuara's gang up on a much larger creature like this before. But they were not just harassing it, they were hunting. While we were aware that this particular species of Fermourodontid had more triangular and slightly more serrated teeth than most others in the genus Fermourodus, we did not know what they used these for.
But now it became clear.
While other Ritsuara's use their three jawed mouths and seven rows of teeth to chop smaller prey like a guillotine, something Collared Ritsuara's undoubtedly do as well, these Fermourodonts use their more triangular teeth to inflict lacerating wounds on larger prey items.
They do not hunt with just brute force, but rather they aim to weaken their prey and bleed them out to the point where they can no longer fight.
At up to six meters long however, a Brown Ebusoir is no easy pickings. These massive marine Arachnotheres possess eight strong flippers that can easily cause a concussion and have insanely strong jaws lined with rows of teeth designed for crushing the shells of huge sedentary bivalves and large Pectinauts. One well placed bite from an Ebusoir could crush a Ritsuara into a bloody pulp.
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