'Arctic Mermaid' Biology Explained | The Science of the Qalupalik

[@ThoughtPotato]

Buy a DNA kit here: bit.ly/ThoughtPotatoBf Use the coupon code POTATODNA for free shipping. As an added bonus, you can start a 30-day free trial of MyHeritage's best subscription for family history research - and enjoy a 50% discount if you decide to continue it.

[@djungelskog132]

This video is so cool

[@vulcorethegreat1220]

Might I suggest the next expedition you go on to study a mythical beast be the Amazon's Mapinguari? Or perhaps the Orang Pendek on the isle of Flores. I do suggest avoid the American Appalachian mountain regions unless you like peril. Many, many creatures call the mountain range, the hollers, the forests, rivers, lakes, and fields home. My personal theory on that place is the mountain range actual has a entire hollow pocket underneath the mountain range which allows critters to come and go as they please hiding them from human eyes. Or many of them would just eat humans anyway. Sincerely Prof. Trace of the Q.U.E.S.T organization

[@jc_art_]

I know it probably isnt enough to cover in a video, but perhaps you could cover the biology of minecraft creatures? The skulk family in particular seems decently up your alley, though i wouldnt know 🤷‍♀️

[@Molech996]

You should make a little Christmas special where you explain the biology of Krampus.

[@billyholland5156]

if you ever one day consider doing a monster outside of general mythology, the Reavers from Firefly would be a good pick.

[@Molech996]

I'm so glad you covered a creature from Inuit mythology,which is pretty underrated.

[@ThoughtPotato]

Definitely agreed

[@samuelbenefiel5362]

​@@ThoughtPotatocan you do the Cet'aeni (athabascan legends) Gugwe, and other so called Devil Monkeys next?

[@AtomicPatriot]

I just did some research on the Inuit mythology, some very interesting stuff. The thing that caught my attention was the Tuniit (or Dorsett) was actually real. That's kind of wild, i guess it gives validity to the eye witnesses of these creatures. Man the world is still so full of so much mystery and there's still so much for us to discover.

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@SorrowSkili]

Fr alaska

[@lordrath9674]

Your work with aquatic creatures is probably my favorite of this whole series. The way you paint their morphology, behavior and evolutionary history really makes one wonder if perhaps these creatures might have existed, or still do to this day

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@juliemesser2053]

​@@p-__😂 That's gross. Don't you have Charlie of Moist to bother?😅

[@nataliewestby7696]

Mine too!

[@isaiahkenny3544]

Of course they do

[@ManImTheVoid]

That thing is the embodiment of my irrational fear of water.

[@ThoughtPotato]

Yes, 100%

[@boyinblue.]

That is what it's meant to be, a monster intended to keep you away from the icy water. Especially young children who could easily fall in.

[@popularopinion1]

Were it real, that fear would not be irrational

[@gordanazakula5669]

Have they been observed, and caught?​@ThoughtPotato

[@NotSoNormal1987]

I think that it is entirely rational to fear the water, especially the deep oceans.

[@Bandersnatch41]

Would have loved an additional line. " Occasionally this creature miscalculates and attracts the attention of an adult polar bear and the hunter becomes the hunted "

[@kieranadamson3224]

I genuinely wonder if a polar bear would be a definite predator though. The thing looks like it could do some nasty damage to a polar bear. Plus it has more avenues to do damage thanks to those hands.

[@Bandersnatch41]

​@kieranadamson3224 a full grown polar bear is 10ft tall and are great swimmers. It's not an easy mark

[@seandunbar7364]

Polar bears are fuckin scary

[@kieranadamson3224]

@@Bandersnatch41 absolutely, polar bears are some of the nastiest things you can run into in the wild. But the issue is the the proposed Qalupalik is a creature that is essentially the opposite kind of apex predator to a polar bear. A polar bear is mainly effective on land for actualll killing but it's no slouch while swimming. But the Qalupalik can confidently latch onto something on land and rip it apart and presumably has similar durability to the bear. Plus, if it can get at the bear while it's in the water I think the bear is fucked.

[@ThaneofCawdor69420]

I was waiting for this comment I basically said the same thing lmao.

[@whatever5401]

It's always nice to see more popular channels covering lesser-known mythical creatures. I never thought I would see the qalupalik being mentioned in a video, much less in a speculative biology video

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@Warlord_Gruktak_Rukrak]

​@@p-__ -1 brain cells comment 😊

[@aaronwilder2775]

11:43 - 11:45 - I may be wrong but this is the first time he names his team members, Allison and Marcus...I wonder if we'll get more bits of lore in future videos :)

[@aardvarkprods]

Technically not the first time! There's a link in the channel's about section that directs you to an unlisted video, a short presentation narrated by Marcus, on a channel featuring another video, an autopsy report narrated by Allison (whose name was also briefly mentionned inthe Strigoi video)

[@aaronwilder2775]

@@aardvarkprods oh wow ok cool

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@goldenghost2676]

@aidenhartley295he said his farts are better than thought potato’s farts

[@imperadorchin3099]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Allison die?

[@GlueEater-ix9gl]

I love the way you insert somewhat scientific reasoning to various cryptids and myths. This channel truly is a diamond in the rough.

[@AlphaMoist]

This channel would have blown my mind as a kid. Love it so much

[@violetlight1548]

Human child, human child Ours to have, ours to hold Forget your mother, forget your brother Ours to hold under the ice - "A Promise is a Promise", a children's book by Robert Munsch and Michael Kusugak about the legend of the Qalupalik. Your video took me back to my childhood here.

[@Sabatuar]

That one image with the three figures and the child has always been one of the creepiest illustrations for me. Though for the longest time I was familiar with the image without knowing what it was depicting.

[@godzillakingofthemonsters5812]

With how specialized the creature seems to ambush hunting in and under ice flows, I have to wonder how it protects itself from more mobile predators like orcas and polar bears. Avoiding sleeper sharks seems easy enough given their slow movement, but seeing how mammals like seals and moose have consistently been hunted by the slow sharks I would also assume Qalupalik is on a shark's menu.

[@allster0crowly]

colors tend indicate poison of some kind, even animals tend to avoid a very colorful animal in the wild if it is a reptilian or fishlike creature. false coloration is something that happens to avoid predation.

[@jennyfeare1702]

he also did mention their algae can provide camouflage, so orcas and polar bears would likely swim right past a cleverly hidden and still qalupalik

[@c5365]

Some of them probably are predated on...which would keep their populations in check.

[@rnotalther5189]

They have a huge underwater city with condos wifi hot tubs ans green beer 😅

[@godzillakingofthemonsters5812]

@@rnotalther5189 TRUE

[@Lavenderwise]

Thank you for covering an Indigenous myth! I live on the unceded Dena'ina and Ahtna lands and grew up with these stories 🫶 they are raw and terrifying.

[@ryonhatcher4561]

That is a facinating understanding of the Qalupalik. It also appears to be much uglier than the Siren, not to mention vaguely similar. It's likely to be the work of convergent evolution, thus explaining why the Qalupalik and the Siren are so similar to one another, despite not being related at all. I look forward to seeing what other mythical creature will be studied in the future, TP. I just hope there's gonna be some fantastical creatures that are quite familiar, though much less likely to *kill* you. Nonetheless, this is some good work, and I hope you keep it up! This is a very facinating series, I can tell!

[@kieranadamson3224]

It's a concept I cane up with with my own personal writing as well. It's a genuinely terrifying idea that a) Sirens of myth would be a lot more openly horrifying and b) that they wouldn't just be limited to Greece but instead multiple coastal and marshy areas having regional variabts of the creature.

[@ryonhatcher4561]

@JuanEnriqueFloresJr I've been hooked on this series, since the Vampire Video, two years ago.

[@ryonhatcher4561]

@JuanEnriqueFloresJr 100% agree on that! It's always facinating to speculate how something that doesn't really extst could be more and more plausible. I'm more hoping if Thought Potato could do a speculative take on Trolls, or a creature you could interview with. (coughs) Elves (coughs)! That would be pretty cool.

[@bloodrosereaper2099]

I'm loving this series. It's kinda like the SCP series, but about real world mythological creatures and legends from around the world. Some unknown organization is scouring the world for these "cryptids", only to learn they are VERY real and do their best to catalogue and understand this bizarre kingdom of the outlandish.

[@MisstressMourtisha]

I like how you actually add in scientific information that could be a biology of a creature from oberservations from locals

[@vickyger254]

Thank you for unlocking a memory of my father reading me a children's book of this creature and how terrifying it was.

[@rsookchand919]

A new upload is amazing but even better when it’s a cryptid I never heard of

[@ThoughtPotato]

Oh very good to hear!

[@AngDevigne]

The "You matter" at the end of your videos helped me out so much. I didn't even notice it at first, but I've listened to your videos often enough that "you matter" became ingrained in my mind. Thank you so so much for that.

[@WarBeasty]

I think the question most of us have is, "Is it delicious when fileted, grilled and basted with garlic butter?"

[@Bluedd17]

Since Its flesh composition seems to be similar to the Greenland's Shark I suppose it is not.

[@Goblinhandler]

@@Bluedd17it seems to move around quite a bit more than the Greenland shark, and it probably doesn’t dispose of urine through its skin, it may taste good, if a bit tough

[@Skorpychan]

@@Bluedd17 Buried and fermented for a period of months to make it edible. For a given value of edible, anyway.

[@alessandragangemi9611]

Dungeon Meshi mindset.

[@YourBigDaddyOwO]

​@@alessandragangemi9611DEMI HUMANS ARE OFF THE MENU!!!

[@indigopotatoe]

Now all you need is the Ningen to complete the unsettling mer-creature collection.

[@ximenacasas7419]

Love that it says that the methods of procuring a speciman are "unconventional" because to lure animals, bait is used, and with their predatory nature, it must have had to be a human, as using animals elicits less hesitation and empathy and humans earn more empathy

[@purplehaze2358]

"I do not like the cold. There is a certain quality about it; an inherent loneliness that I've never been able to fully articulate." This has similar energy to "I hate sand. It's rough, coarse, and it gets everywhere".

[@SingingSealRiana]

No not really

[@bennelong8451]

It’s similar but it’s not cringe

[@brennacoleman6815]

I know its forefins are more akin to a goby, but are we sure that it couldn't be a highly derived batrachoidiforme? The 'humming' behavior is quite reminiscent of that family (including the Opsanus specimens I worked with) Excellent video as always! It's always a joy to see your work (especially during this stressful finals crunch) and as a former marine bio student, fun to recognize terms I used to study :)

[@brennacoleman6815]

Also, could a polar bear or orca reasonably eat these things?

[@jennyfeare1702]

@@brennacoleman6815 since orcas can absolutely make a meal out of diving meese, can easily see them occasionally prey on qalupalik on sight, with polar bears it may be a 50/50 chance of either of them falling prey to one another

[@Blacksun-xu9hz]

Well I never planned on sleeping today so lets watch yet another great documentary to remember me why I subscribed to you. Love your content!

[@ThoughtPotato]

Thank you! Hope you get some sleep some day

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@ianswinford5570]

This video was awesome! I love that you’re covering monsters from lesser-known mythology. What other monster are you planning to cover next? One of the many fascinating yokai from Japanese mythology? The Ahool from Java? The Mapinguara from South America? Either way, I know it’ll be fascinating and awesome.

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@ianswinford5570]

Why did you feel the need to reply to me to say that?

[@tinaherr3856]

​@@ianswinford5570it's a spam bot, so it isn't just a you thing

[@ianswinford5570]

I've never seen a spam bot like this, so thanks for letting me know.@@tinaherr3856

[@universalflamethrower6342]

​@@ianswinford5570it often lurks in obscure places, sometimes surfacing, often covered in it's own feces, which it hurls in all directions without meaning or maybe pure malice

[@kasinokaiser1319]

Can't wait for the next entry into the mermaid biology, the ningen!

[@xanderdoesart69]

i dont know how the hell you made that humming noise but its genuinely incredibly unnerving, good job

[@SoapCanFan]

The kelpie would be really fun to see! it's quie creepy imo

[@lukebonky3186]

LETS GO MY GOAT

[@ThoughtPotato]

🙏

[@serenitybigham7099]

Please DO continue on with producing these AMAZING videos! They are so fascinating to watch/listen to!

[@jennyfeare1702]

Ya should totally tackle some more cryptic horrors said to haunt the arctic regions, from the possible lycanthrope strains Amarok and Adlet, to the Ijiraq (which interestingly/funnily enough, is said to resemble the bastardized modernized look of the wendigo), Akhlut (possibly a sort of primitive whale/protowhale that was complacent just being semi-aquatic), and the terrible, possibly artificial "demon of vengence", the Tupilaq!

[@kieranadamson3224]

I think something else he could do is cover modern reinterpretations of some cryptids that aren't correct but are still interesting. For example, with the Wendigo my personal justification for the deer like look in my own personal writing is a mixture of the existing Wendigo spirit with Celtic spirits that followed British colonists to the new world. So perhaps in this series if he first covered some kind of Fae he could explain it as perhaps a strange combination of the two transformations.

[@Hvision0000]

the ijaraq could have been mistaken for a wendigo

[@jennyfeare1702]

@@Hvision0000 But... those look nothing alike, tho. So doubt that

[@Hvision0000]

@@jennyfeare1702 fair, maybe a diff strain or something, maybe it hopped from humans to deer somehow, like the lycanthropy

[@DevGoswami-vy1sd]

Next video about biology of giants, trolls and dragons

[@jennyfeare1702]

Giants honestly seem like quite an easy one to explain and thus quick to cook up fairly soon, just a hominid adapted to be thicc and tall, looking like the GoT giants i bet! Trolls def some kind of mionke, and Dragons can totally be some sorta highly derived avemetatarsalians, so like funky cousins to pterosaurs and dinosaurs!

[@MerkONeil]

I absolutely adore the art used for this video- Especially the sketch of it attacking its nearby prey.

[@subjectz1171]

Let's gooo! A great video to watch on my country's independence day 🇧🇧. Are you planning on doing any videos based on caribbean folk lore? I promise you there is no shortage of creatures that would be awesome to research such as the bacoo, chickcharney, duppy and lacou just to name a few. Great video always, keep up the great work.

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@McBernes]

The way this series of videos is written is brilliant, and your narration is incredible. There is something in it all that makes me thing of some of the Lovecraft stories I've read, like At the Mountains of Madness maybe. You sound so sincere and make it very convincing! Thank you for uploading another one!

[@noeliesmith515]

Just discovered your channel. I’ve always loved cryptids and myths, so this is all right up my alley. I have a particular fascination with a lot of creatures from Chinese mythology and I would love to see how you break down their biology and theoretical evolutionary history. Regardless, I think your videos are really cool and I’m excited to have something new to listen to!

[@madamplatypus313]

An unexpected yet much appreciated addition to the series!

[@carissatogami4478]

I took a bite of my Mack and cheese right when when you said cold slimy scales😂😆 I immediately felt like gagging

[@Slif-art]

Another amazing video! I’d love to see you study some more amphibious mythical creatures, possibly the yar-ama-ya-who?

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@morutecoredino]

So glad you covered the qalupalik it's so underated

[@rue...whenwasthis]

i'd love to see you do werehyenas! Cause according to the mythos they are magical hyenas that can turn into humans, so i know you'd have a field day with that and it'd be excellent!

[@BigBossMan538]

I imagine polar bears may sometimes take a qalupalik or maybe kill them on sight if they compete for similar prey

[@Bluedd17]

Hi! I got an answer from Mr. Thought Potato on a similar question. Due to their size full-grown specimens of this kind of Qalupalik ad relatively safe from bears, especially when they are in water, where they can get the upper hand and drown them (the situation can change if they get into a bear while they are crawling on the icepacks, where they are sloppy). Major threats for these large predatory fish are parties of killer whales, that can outgrow them and possess better social structure (I suspect that the killer whales' contribution was essential to keep under control the population of Qalualik in this fictional world. Since the premise set by Thought Potato tells us that these videos are from the 1960s', I suspect that the "wealthy population of the bay" described at the end of the video considerably decreased in number, due to climate change and industrial fishing). My best Regards to You!

[@alexahlers1577]

Would you consider doing one of these but with a giant monster from mythology like typhon from Greek mythology or cipactli from Aztec mythology. A kind of monster that shouldn’t be capable of existing and yet it does. It could be even more crazy than any other you’ve done

[@Bluedd17]

Hi Thought Potato! My congratulations on your work and your choice of the new creature for this winter. This is great! I swear that I was thinking of you about this chilling horror from the north ... but this is far bigger than I could ever imagine. After your revelations in this video, I hope to see other creature amphibious creatures from folklore (some of them also renowned for being "child-snatchers"). Aside from that, I have a couple of questions about the subject of this video: - I'm afraid I have missed the scientific name that you usually give to new species ... does this keep only its local name? - Also, if I understood correctly, its similarities with the appearance of "Sirenus Horridus" are due to convergent evolution, aren't they? (They are not from the same superfamilia)? Due to its size, I was wondering if you imagined some kind of predator-prey (or concurrent) relationships between your Qalupalik and other northern predators like white bears and killer whales? Sorry if I bother You with questions. Thank you very much for all of your efforts. My best Regards to You!

[@ThoughtPotato]

No bother at all! 1. This one was not assigned a binomial--likely due to some disagreements among the team 2. You are correct--the lineage of sirenus and the qalupalik seems unrelated 3. They appear to be an apex predator, though run-ins with orcas can end in violence Thanks for watching and commenting :)

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@Bluedd17]

@@ThoughtPotato Thanks to You! Always!

[@jennyfeare1702]

@@p-__ weird flex but aight ;:3

[@TriceratopsHorridussss]

@@p-__ Did you know that the Loch Ness monster is a giant eel? Crazy huh

[@davycannonhound9005]

This makes me want a biology video on the Ningen, too.

[@demifletcher2083]

Would love to see succubus or incubus if possible! I think your study of it would be so fascinating! Love all your vids like these. ❤

[@the_arson_bean]

yooo, its so cool to see cousins lore to be so wonderfully covered

[@cybo_vampire9145]

While everyone else is calling this a nightmare, i personally would love to see this in an aquarium. It looks awsome, and any mermaid-like organism is welcome in my opinion.

[@vee-bee-a]

Here's hoping that you'll cover the Mongolian Death-worm some-day.

[@Lemon-wu9lr]

Studying for biology class?Nah.Cryptobiology?YESSSS

[@aardvarkprods]

The "symazalied" at 0:41 is really intriguing. Probably the first time anything in this series feels like it's deliberately trying to be examined or deciphered.

[@universalflamethrower6342]

Wohow a good monster channel! Somehow it was apparent from the very start :)

[@nerdragon2649]

I just love your narration and presentation, all the work you put into this, so freaking much! Have you ever considered making a video about creatures from brazilian folklore? We have a rich legendarium that's sadly subrepresented and underestimated.

[@Ilansilva7874]

APOIO

[@aeleara8201]

I honestly love winding down after work with these videos!

[@ksoundkaiju9256]

Orcas: Interesting meal today….

[@geoffreyentwistle8176]

The mental image of something comparable in mass to a horse, being able to throw itself out of the water to grab prey and drag them back into the Depths, is horrifying in so many ways...

[@sambeserra7170]

Face reveal is awesome, I’m glad your wife supports you on your KZbin career, and I’m very glad to have you on this platform. Merry Christmas.

[@poppi2591]

Love to see your content. I can just imagine how long this video took to make.

[@budcheefer6823]

bro you need to write a book, this was awesome.

[@mariobalestrieri7488]

The qalupalik is one of my favorite creatures I am planing on adding qalupaliks in my monster girl series they would live in a realm with harpies and werebats and they’re society would be inspired by the water tribes from avatar.

[@chandranshutiwari3905]

😮 Can't wait to read it

[@lightspeed7312]

Yo, can we get a link?

[@ananslator3655]

You should do more lesser-known Cryptids and creatures like the Bake-kujira which looks like a skeletal ichthyosaur Ahuizotl a big cat with a human hand at the end of its tail white river monster A giant carnivorous 12 foot fish that sinks boat and snallygaster weird looking giant bird monster

[@ThoughtPotato]

Adding these to my list

[@p-__]

My farts are better than Thought Potato's farts

[@JeffreyDonn]

Actually the kujira is a skeleton whale

[@JeffreyDonn]

​​@@ThoughtPotatoactually Bake-kujira is a skeletal whale

[@ananslator3655]

@@JeffreyDonn huh looks like a ichthyosaur to me

[@nat6167]

You covered it! Yayyy! Thank you, I was hoping you would and hadn't seen this until now

[@lukelavigne5474]

Another amazing video as always!

[@anitamihholap5926]

Child: *exists* Dark and Twisted Whisper Qalupalik: Guess I'm a dad now! 😍 Thought Potato Qalupalik: Finally, some good fucking food 😋

[@brotherkhrayn3525]

This is my favorite series ever.

[@hippy282]

Great work mate. Any chance of the bunyip sometime?

[@benmcreynolds8581]

Dude i love your channel and your content 🤘🏻 There is seriously nothing else like it. Such top tier quality stuff!

[@gingergrant1057]

With the description of an unorthodox procurement method leads me to believe the team had deep sea fishing poles and baby-dolls as bait. 6:18-6:20.

[@Dabantam]

Can’t wait for you to cover yokai

[@Jedapoo]

Yay! I only found you recently and I've already binged most of your vids. This was a treat to make the gym visit go faster😂

[@GERB120]

Another fantastic and high effort video, well done.

[@Jackal-ep9zf]

I’d love to see Thought Potato’s take on the Australian bunyip.

[@rhys1264]

I would loooove to see you do the manananggal! As always, fantastic job on these

[@Justanothervocalist]

The writing and presentation of this video is AMAZING, Fasted Sub of my life

[@CrystalMouse1]

My favorite Inuit book “A Promise is a Promise “

[@joshuagraham3141]

Looks like I'm brushing up my cryptid knowledge again.

[@gorlab9549]

I love these videos so much

[@gakamech]

I am binging a lot of these and if I'm not mistaken the members of the crew have appeared a couple of times, is there a place where I can get the whole lore of the expeditions? or do I need to rewatch the videos?

[@respektetoutlavi714]

This was so well narrated, it took me quite a while to realize these are completely fictional accounts. Very well done!!!

[@kingwolf3044]

Epic. Terrifying. Everything I love about this series.

[@runner3932]

The design for the monster is fantastic

[@yeetgames1846]

Nice to see my idea be brought into fruition

[@TheSaneHatter]

Thank you for introducing me to a mythology I didn't know! I hadn't heard of this creature before now.

[@servologg5980]

Great video! You should also do a video on the Ipupiara, a aquatic monster from the brazilian tupi folklore

[@Marchenboy3152]

It would be cool to see what a Nokken would be like in your version, or any other creature that uses attraction to capture its prey (Sorry for any writing errors)

[@Renpet516]

I love your videos so much! Always amazing

[@SolInvictusLeatherWorks]

Very cool video! I can tell you put a lot of effort into it! 👍🏼

[@SnakescaIs]

This fish got hands

[@_koraki]

Yesssss! One of my fave indigenous creatures!

[@canadian_american84]

Inuits Live in Quebec, Labrador, Greenland...not only Alaska...actually most Inuits live in Canada and Greenland...a small % even lives in Siberia

[@benmcreynolds8581]

I love the drawings of this creature that show it out of the water. The tons of teeth, the wet hair. With an eerie human look to it. (I wonder if the coat part of the legend was related to the creature possibly wearing the skin of its previous victims?)

[@ChuvaktheGreat]

Amazing work!

[@yolandabenford3539]

I’m so incredibly interested in this topic!!

[@timeshark8727]

Should have had the whole forearm be "fingers" that separate more at the end, rather than giving it something resembling a radius and ulna and wrist. It would make it more like an extremely derived fin, or a frogfish's legs, than an amphibian or reptile leg.

[@JoseR1207]

Artic Mermaids ❌ Artic Sirens ✅ By the way, very interesting. 👍

[@beeafraid22]

This is the first time I've actually heard this thing's name. Everytime I see a word I know I can't pronounce, I start making random noises.

[@SuperPiratesfan]

Do the Rougarou from Louisiana next!

[@heww5682]

Actually perfect video, I needed Inuit mythology based monsters for a region of my campaign.

[@mathieuleader8601]

the image of the Qalupalik with the big snout reminds me of a nightmarish version of Spongebobs Squidward.

[@khorrusvoa]

[A note found tucked beside the presentation.] Convergent evolution is an inspiring thing, as well as terrifying. To be so far from Mediterranean waters and yet become so similar to the Siren... I'm an opportunist, I'm not ashamed to admit. If I see something that can be useful in any way, then I want in. This Qalupalik, however, I can't readily see a use for aside from being put in an aquarium for study or entertainment. It just unnerves me, even more so than the Siren. That jaw and recurved teeth are far too reminiscent of an angler fish. Now that I write it out, where exactly did this one come from? It exhibits traits commonly found in deep-sea fish, yet it swims and hunts in the epipelagic zone and exhibits a special symbiosis with algae. Perhaps I simply don't know my fish (not like [illegible], anyway), but that truly is an odd combination of characteristics. I'd be interested to know how it got to be what it is today. Not that I'd go there and see for myself. I hate the cold. -K