Disclaimer: What? Pokemon belongs to Nintendo? Oh darn.
Common Name: Relicanth, Glanth
Scientific Name: Caputosteus annosus
Description: Relicanth are medium-sized fish pokemon, measuring about 40 inches from head to tail fin. They are dull brown in color, with lighter beige patches distributed over their bodies. They have a bright red spot above the pectoral fins, which may serve to startle predators. Their beige-colored heads are heavily armored with bone, with a dorsal spike as well as check protuberances, which are larger in males. Their mouths are beaklike and toothless. Relicanth are completely blind, and their degenerate eyes are sealed under a layer of skin.
Relicanth are unusual in that their fins are not ray-finned, like most fish, but rather lobe-finned and fleshy. They have paired pectoral and pelvic fins directly next to each other, and the dorsal and anal fins mirror each other on either side of the body. The tail is broad and lobed.
Range: Relicanth are only known from the deep ocean trenches near Hoenn.
Habitat: Relicanth live in very deep, cold waters, in eternal darkness.
Call: Relicanth have been known to gargle deeply, but the purpose of these vocalizations is unknown.
Diet: While juvenile Relicanth are filter feeders, using their gill rakers to sieve plankton from the water, adult Relicanth feed on a variety of invertebrates, such as jellies, salps, and small, nonpokemon echinoderms and mollusks. Analyses of stomach contents suggest that they sometimes nip the tentacles off of Lileep, a dangerous activity for any predator!
Adapted to the resource-poor ocean bottom, these pokemon can go long periods without eating. Captive specimens have refused food for weeks without seeming to decline in condition.
Life Cycle: Relicanth lay eggs on rocky substrates on the ocean floor, in clutches of up to five. Captive male Relicanth have been seen to wrestle with their cheek protuberances, locking them in a slow-motion shoving match.
Relicanth are thought to be very long-lived, but their precise life span remains unknown.
Relationship with Humans: Relicanth are difficult to capture in their deep ocean habitats, and even more difficult to study. There are several specimens, both alive and preserved, under study, and a few have been seen in the battle trade. Their population numbers are unknown.
Naturalist's Notes: Relicanth are poor swimmers, and often move by 'crawling' along the bottom with their pectoral and pelvic fins. When they do swim, they can be seen hanging vertically in the water, heads pointing down, likely sensing prey by their vibrations.
The discovery of Relicanth, only a few decades ago, was very exciting in the scientific community, as fossils of the species had been unearthed for ages without finding the real pokemon. They are believed to be basal in the tetrapod evolutionary tree, very similar to the first vertebrates to emerge onto land.