Space Shark

Common Name: Shark

Scientific Name: Celestius Megalodonis

Description on Science Screen: "A ferocious predator that feeds on starships and their crews, posing a danger to commercial and military shipping. Unlike whales, no government protects sharks and some encourage hunting them to extinction."

The Space Shark is a predatory space dwelling creature that feeds on Space Whales. Despite its chitinous exoskeleton and fearsome appearance, it shares a number of features in common with the Space Whale, such as its fluked tail. This suggests that the two species may share a common origin. Scans of the interior of the creature have been inclusive, but it appears to have the same jelly-like structure under its carapace. This suggests that it may be similar to an arthropod.

As with all monsters, it appears on the LRS as a purple dot, and on Science as a purple asterisk. It must be scanned to identify it as a Space Shark. Once identified, its classification "SHARK" will appear on the Science display.

Behavior and Stats:

The Space Shark normally hunts and devours Space Whales, ignoring all other monsters and ships. If attacked, however, the Space Shark will defend itself aggressively. It is only slightly stronger than the NSECT, able to take about twice the amount of damage from beam and torpedo weapons. It is also considerably slower when hunting, although it reacts with surprising speed if a ship gets in range. It is not known how the Space Shark is able to propel itself through space, although it is assumed it uses the same mechanism as the Space Whale, and it moves with the same undulating motion.

As would be expected from looking at the creature, the Shark's jagged teeth do a respectable amount of damage to a ship's hull, or even shielding. After attacking a ship, the Shark must circle around for another pass. The Shark will lose interest if a ship moves away, at which time it will resume its hunt for its usual prey.

Starting in Artemis 2.7, the Space Shark's size and health varies according to its age, which can be determined by a Science scan. A Young Shark has 100 health, a Mature Shark has 150, and an Ancient Shark has 200 health. Age does not seem to change the Shark's damage. A Shark must be tagged to determine its health.

When killed, the Space Shark will drop two or three anomalies, each giving the usual rewards.

Quick Stats