Smooth Erebut

Eryobis is no stranger to dorsoventrally flattened, or "ray-like", marine creatures. The earliest case we know of were the Eurygnathid coelacanths that lived over 300 million years ago. Then of course there are the Planosolincolae, the "flattacanths", which are some of the most successful groups on Eryobis since they gave rise to the Anisospondyli which came to dominate the land. Presently, we can even find siderays living beneath the waves, which are an attempt by nienktvis conodonts at the flattened demersal lifestyle.

While we are yet to discover any highly flattened examples of Holostean fish that also inhabit Eryobis, there does exist a third(?) kind of dorsoventrally flattened coelacanth that persists to the present day: the Erebuthoids, commonly known as erebuts.

Much like rays on earth are essentially just flat sharks, erebuts are flattened coeaaien. More specifically, they are Laminocoeiidans, plated coeaaien. As such they have no true teeth, but rather a single plate that evolved from teeth that fused together.

Erebuts are easily distinguishable from other coeaaien by their extremely hypertrophied pelvic fins that they use as their primary locomotors. Their pectoral fins on the other hand are small and located high up near the spine. It is not yet known what purpose these small fins serve, but some speculate they may play a role in communication.

The species pictured here is the smooth erebut (Opthoffia guraltanensis), a small species native to the east coast of Guralta. The name "smooth" does not refer to the animal's skin, which is rather rough like those of most erebuts, but to the fact that this species lacks the defensive spine on the first dorsal fin present in most plated coeaaien. 

This species primarily feeds on small mollusks and crustaceans that live on the seafloor and can most often be found in coastal zones up to 10 meters deep.