Mabolmaeglim

Mabelmaikli (Q. "Sharp-claws"; Festiqan (Ga. "Death claws") are huge creatures with eight appendages. They resemble a cross between a crab and a squid and inhabit the inland seas of Rhûn, Nûrnen, Dushera and the sheltered coastal shelves between the Bay of Helcar (in the Romenëar) and the Bay of Ormal (in the Haragaer). Because they are enamoured of rich, somewhat briny water, though, mabelmaikli can thrive in any marsh, delta, lake, or ocean where there is a little salt. They are most common in Mordor and in the waters off Arg-Simorîg.

Detailed Description
Mabelmaikli feed on starfish, shellfish, and submarine worms, but they will attack any animal that comes within reach of their four nimble, steely claws. Each of these pincers is 1 -2 feet in diameter and can crush a Man with ease. Together, they present a frightening array. Actually, they are simply the creature's four forward, grasping appendages, and are used to immobilize prey. The mabelmaikla tears its victims apart with nine inch mandibles and four pairs of mouth parts.

Like their crab relatives, sharp-claws propel themselves backwards when they swim, but they move much faster, often at speeds of up to fifteen miles an hour. Generally, though, they prefer to burrow and remain inactive until their prey happens by. Their ability to lay an ambush is legend, especially among the slavefishermen of Nurn. After all, mabelmaikli are huge, bright purple denizens that one would expect to see with relative ease. By using refined instincts and the cover of their burrows and murky waters, however, these beasts hide very well.

Sharp-claws make excellent feeding machines. They 'hear' with sensors in their four legs and smell and feel with their three foot long antennae. Pain does not affect them. (They cannot be stunned.) Once a mabelmaikla senses a prospective kill, it darts forward and embraces its victim with one or more pincers. Then it smells the prey with its feet, analyzing the pinioned creature's worth as food.