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#Cthulhu-and-Illithid
octopus,squids & cephalopods

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Submitted: July 31, 2011
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Tullimonstrum Mimic 1by ~NocturnalSea

Traditional Art / Drawings / Animals

Another speculative evolution series. The idea for this grew out of a Tullimonstrum from my first hermit anomalocaris illustration: [link]
which I patterned after a nudibranch. I imagined that, like many real sea slugs, this creature's bright coloring served as a signal that it was poisonous. From there I imagined that if such were the case, there might be other animals in the environment that mimicked the Tullimonstrum to dissuade predators. So, several sketches later I ended up with a whole horde of animals that imitate various foul-tasting Tullimonstrum species.
First up is the Clown Squid, Mimiteuthis joculator, which imitates the Orange-nosed Harlequin Tully Monster, Tullimonstrum aurantiacurorostrum. Both animals inhabit an intertidal swamp formed by Cordaites-like trees-- evident here by the rotten, brown strap-like leaves littering the ground. The brown spikes sticking up everywhere are the Cordaites' pneumatophores, similar to those found on black mangroves. The pink sacs clustered around their bases are hardy tunicates that can survive dessication when the tide goes out.