← JournalNotes from the Lower Dark

Embercrown Crab

Pyrocorona celata

Abyssal28 cm carapace · Fleeing · rock-hugging

Field record

A collar of ember-red nodules burns around its shell while it feeds on the trench wall, bright enough to look like a misplaced vent from far away. Bring a drone close and every nodule dies at once; the crab folds into the rock shadow and scuttles sideways with startling speed. The electric shock seems to lock those legs in place just long enough to make the capture honest.

Marginal note: “the crown dims the instant it knows it has been seen”

Habitat

ZoneThe Lower Dark

Depth range2,100–2,800 m

DiscoveryNo special condition — found simply by piloting close enough to identify it.

Catching it

A Abyssal-tier catch needs at least a Heavy-Gauge Net— anything under that rating can never hold it, whatever the throw. Bought at the Quartermaster’s counter for 850 crystals. A held net inks this entry for good and pays its ledger bonus on the spot.

Ledger bonus on capture+12 Hull Max

Full capture mechanics — sighting vs. capture, the aim ring, why a net below a creature’s tier always bursts — in The Ledger.