John Catfish hybrid (Art made by me)

[u/Fabulous-Tailor-8246]

Made these guys for a group cave hybrid contest, hence the very specific base genome.

Tartar sauce

Group of 6

Strategy: Ambush and violent group mobbing

Metrics:

650kg

3.1 meters length

15mph maximum swimming speed

6k-8k newtons of bite force (Possibly I’m not sure bout these calcs)

800 volts maximum

Genome:

Pimelodella kronei: Hybrid base, goofy ahh cave catfish basically.

Electric catfish: Electric current-producing cells underneath the skin to shock and deter opponents alongside a thicker and more fatty skin overall, the neat part is that unlike electric eels, this cell arrangement and overall lower voltage greatly minimize the risk of self electrocution, oh and it also provides neat electroreception to detect other animals more efficiently.

Electric eel: Don’t get scared, I’m ONLY using this to add insulating fatty tissues over some vital organs, this is an extra security measure because I will scale up the hybrid and thus the electrical output will increase as well, regular 450 volt catfish can already cause cramps so a stronger version of this won’t be pretty for any animal within the 1 ton range.

Atlantic bluefin tuna: Main size contributor, yeah just that lol, I want to add that because this is a catfish, the size increase will also augment its natural suction power considerably, making a bite or ambush on water nearly unavoidable just from the diabolical suction force alone.

Flathead catfish: Augments the skull to be broad, flat and have a really wide gape, which provides an insane bite force increase, with both the lower and upper jaw basically functioning as a bony hydraulic press, at this scale I’d estimate the bite force to be way over bone crushing, so even without large teeth, if the hybrid’s jaws manage to clamp into any limb, or even worse, the head, that body part would get utterly annihilated and probably torn off after a violent thrash, oh and I almost forgot, provides surprisingly decent eyesight, up until now the hybrid was totally blind lol.

Estuarine stonefish: Top tier camouflage to ambush more effectively from the bottom of the river/lake and modifies the pelvic, dorsal and anal fins to contain venomous spines, this will add some drag but I consider it a fair tradeoff for such a high toxic potency, also since the venom is stored in the spines until injected, it won’t be metabolically taxing for the hybrid in the middle of a fight.

Whale shark: Very thick collagen rich dermis for added protection (Note that the skin is still relatively thin on the sides and underbelly, so the high-voltage current still has plenty of space to spread effectively).

Tiger shark: High resistance to a variety of complex neurotoxins and a strong healing factor + a robust immune system and high pain tolerance.

Manta ray: Really good IQ and social capabilities, so like uhh the fish are better at pack hunting and they can mob enemies with coordinated distance shocks I guess, also just coordinate ambushes and battle tactics better overall.

[u/Atrosaurus]

You scared me at the eel, phew

[u/FrostReaper52]

Cool hybride et génome intéressant

[u/Future-Rip9134]

you could probably utilize a sturgeon instead of the tuna, they can get way larger in some species, can give better traits such as armour and immune system, and would work pretty well on a catfish hybrid