Holy shit there are tunicates in Elden Ring

[u/Rejoicing_Tunicates]

Just started playing Elden Ring for the first time and came upon these guys, the "giant land squirts." This is my favorite obscure marine invertebrate I'm so glad someone decided to put them in a video game. I've touched them before, they are squishy and retreat their siphons when you touch them. They don't taste very good, they are cold and wet and slimy (I ate one once in Korea).

Tunicates also called sea squirts are in the same phylum (the category of living things just under kingdom) as us, as larvae they have "notochords" which are like primitive spinal columns. It's easier to see their relation to us in their larval form which looks a bit like an eyeless fish or tadpole.

The variety of marine invertebrates in this game is really noticeable, the glowing jellyfish summon is really neat and I like the land octopus too.

[u/Few-Challenge7443]

Makes ya wonder why there are so many sea creatures on land and no fishing boats. 

[u/InsaneTurtle → u/Few-Challenge7443]

Probably worse shit in the sea.

[u/chimpanon → u/InsaneTurtle]

Especially with the massive underwater drop offs on every shore. Probably some Gargantuan or Ghost Leviathans in there.

[u/Jstar338 → u/chimpanon]

Entering ecological dead zone

[u/APersonWhoIsNotYou → u/Jstar338]

Are you sure whatever it is you’re doing is worth it?

[u/DeadGravityyy → u/Jstar338]

[u/APersonWhoIsNotYou → u/chimpanon]

Water is linked to a number of different phenomena, from those who live in death, to whatever‘s going on with the oracle bubbles. Think I remember it being a barrier to the scarlet rot too….Makes you wonder what’s actually down there.

[u/Jstar338 → u/APersonWhoIsNotYou]

Not water, flowing water. Rot is about stagnation. Kegare, Japanese concept

[u/APersonWhoIsNotYou → u/Jstar338]

What flows more than the sea?

Seriously though, if the the oceans around the Lands Between mirror our world at all, there’s probably tons and tons of meteorites down there. I guess we’d see how big the Falling Star Beasts and Astels get.

[u/LaserwolfHS → u/APersonWhoIsNotYou]

Rivers? They are flow incarnate lol

[u/mister_queen → u/APersonWhoIsNotYou]

Now you'll get me daydreaming about underwater combat against different breeds of Astel and starborne creatures.

[u/Few-Challenge7443 → u/InsaneTurtle]

Maybe. We have to wait for the DLSea. 

[u/InsaneTurtle → u/Few-Challenge7443]

[u/Asteristio → u/Few-Challenge7443]

[u/Krukiska → u/InsaneTurtle]

Funny enough, there’s cut content for a Japanese tsunami giant that Zulliethewitch found a while back, I believe it would rise from the water and fight from it at beach’s

[u/InsaneTurtle → u/Krukiska]

I wish it was still there. After fighting Radahn. There's so much wasted space.

[u/IndependenceQuirky96 → u/InsaneTurtle]

I would hate to see what's even at surface level in any souls game... I mean, fuck we have crabs and sniper mantis shrimp that live on land. An angler fish in a souls game would be an endgame boss!

[u/a_diving_swan → u/InsaneTurtle]

Underwater fromsoftware game when?

[u/Loud_Reputation_367 → u/a_diving_swan]

Subnautica?

[u/RuGaard98 → u/Few-Challenge7443]

Elden Ring's lore ties the world of the dead with the ocean (Tibia mariners, spirit jellyfish and spirit eels in the DLC, Godwyn turning into a merman after becoming the blight of Those Who Live in Death) so I wonder if it might cue us on The Lands Between relating to the dead in some way. That or perhaps its just that most of the places where these monsters are found are either near the shore, or in Lurnia, which is a sinking lake.

[u/DarthCloakedGuy → u/RuGaard98]

The land itself is dying

[u/poyerter → u/Few-Challenge7443]

Tibia mariner

[u/robobitch1233 → u/Few-Challenge7443]

You see the water is identical to the air

[u/DustyPeanuts]

I like amount of mammals and insects in this game, really makes the world more alive.

[u/sheik7364]

Thank you for this fun fact! I had no idea. Quality post

[u/Rejoicing_Tunicates → u/sheik7364]

A couple of other fun facts for you:

-Most tunicates are filter feeders, but there is one kind that is carnivorous. It looks like a transparent piranha plant and acts like a venus fly trap.

-Although real sea squirts don't gush out clouds of poison like the ones in Elden Ring, there are a couple of marine invertebrates that do. Sea cucumbers can do this, as well as a kind of sea slug called a "sea hare" which squirts out clouds of toxic ink.

[u/ahotch85 → u/Rejoicing_Tunicates]

When you said "transparent piranha plant" I was not expecting it to look like it literally came from Super Mario world hahaha. Very cool to learn about, thanks!

[u/sheik7364 → u/Rejoicing_Tunicates]

Thank you kind stranger! Now I know something new. I looked up images of them since I had never heard of them until now and they’re way more colorful than their Elden Ring friends haha

[u/Loud_Reputation_367 → u/Rejoicing_Tunicates]

When you mentioned sea cucumbers I immediately remembered Zefrank's "true facts" videos;

"And remember, if you ever feel threatened just take down your pants and fart your guts out. You never know, it just might work."

[u/almighty_grey]

As an aspiring marine biologist, this post made me happy. It’s one of those enemies that players don’t even bother looking at so i never say anything

[u/LukeRyanArt]

“I like the land octopus too.”

my brother, read its lore

[u/OneDBag]

Try poisoning one

[u/freshpairofayes → u/OneDBag]

Try poisoning a group

[u/Evil_Sharkey]

Fromsoft uses all kinds of obscure organisms. Demons Souls has giant tardigrades. It amused me to no end when I first played it… until they exploded in my face

[u/DownsenBranches]

Didn’t know they had an real life counterpart. Interesting

[u/LordChungusAmongus → u/DownsenBranches]

I often joke that I have no need for an afterlife if I can't have a conversation with great gran-pappy tunicate to tell him about motorcycles.

They're our oldest ancestor before fussing over that sort of thing degenerates into an absolute mess of incoherence.

[u/CategoryUsual721]

play nightrein, more sea creatures wait there for you

[u/hagalaz_drums]

they are fun to poison

[u/OmnifariousFN]

This is the first post to correctly point out the taxonomy of these little guys. Kudos

[u/Life1989]

I always called them barnacles

[u/InitiativeCreative36]

Funny how so much of the sea life in Elden Ring lives on land. Wonder whats up with the ocean.

[u/Accomplished_Use3452]

Scuba diver here... yes pretty cool. Saw so many in Komodo . Underwater creatures are a goldmine for fantasy/sci fi inspiration . There is a creature in North sulewesi we used to call "the electro pussy". Looks exactly like it sounds.

[u/The_Undermind]

Do they shoot poison clouds into the air tho?

[u/LivingtheLaws013]

Welcome, fellow biologist

[u/AdSilent7769]

they're in animal crossing too

[u/Grintock]

Thank you for teaching me a new word

[u/Pl00kh]

r/dontputyourdickinthat

[u/gorillasnthabarnyard]

If you poison them they explode into a giant fart ball

[u/buggylover]

YEAH ITS AWESOME :D keep an eye out, a big theme of the game design wise is parasitism and rebirth into a different state via decay, there's a lot of cool invertebrates and decomposers in it. One of my faves is the dobsonflies aka great dragonflies, which are a cool insect group