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“This is arguably the most amazing and terrifying discovery of the last 2,000 years! The hidden apex predator of the seas! The largest shark of all time!” - Panthalasson, the water elemental dragon, on his and Lord Theodore Tybalt’s newly published description of the newly discovered Ironscale manokamele to Lord Tybalt after their joint discovery of the shark in 1990 ADH.

  The true apex predator of Kairegorn’s Belemnite Sea, Ferruisurus chameleopristis, the ironscale manokamele (pronounced “Mon-O-Kaa-May-Lay”) is a gigantic lamniform shark that has, until the last decade, remained undiscovered in the depths.
  First discovered in 1990 ADH by the elemental dragon Panthalasson and biologist Theodore Tybalt, a leading member of Kairegorn’s Natural Heritage Society, the ironscale manokamele is massive; growing more than three-quarters of a mile long (3,960 feet), it is the largest predator of the seas. Until recently, it was assumed that the bites of the shark on rare leviathan and kraken corpses were the result of territorial battles between the species, or predator-prey interactions. However, the underwater explorations of the dragon Panthalasson, who helped discover the species, showed otherwise. During an exploration of the deepwater continental shelf in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zone in 1989 ADH, Panthalasson, who can breathe underwater and dive to great depths thanks to his unique magical enhancements, came across the teeth of this shark, encrusted with coral and so large that he was dumbstruck. Realizing the area he was exploring was littered with these teeth, he began to search for the owner, suddenly feeling very exposed. When a massive shadow passed over the dragon, who had lit up the water around him, he realized he was not alone; exposed to a gigantic, heavily armored shark the size of a small island. Disturbed by the light, the shark immediately changed color, turning almost completely invisible and disappeared. Slowly, calmly, and never taking his eye off the depths in the event the beast came back, Panthalasson returned to the surface, whereupon he immediately teleported to another body of water, close to the city of Galleon, where he knew Lord Tybalt was staying.
  Describing the encounter in full detail to the naturalist, the dragon suggested a joint expedition to find the shark again. Excited by the prospect, Lord Tybalt and Panthalasson began funding an expedition, using the treasures from sunken pirate ships Panthalasson had found or sank during his campaign against crime and the Dark Corps. With designs purchased from Arnen Sledgefang, the top inventor of the Order of the Dragon Riders, they also began building a submarine of unrivaled complexity and strength made from precious supplies of Iilbrithin, capable of diving to the deepest depths and equipped with a crystal viewing screen to allow the ship to be completely sealed without windows while still allowing the pilots and passengers to see outside without the risk of implosion.
  Preparation took almost a year, even with the best dwarven craftsmen and technicians to aid them. Once they were ready, Panthalasson escorted Tybalt’s hired ship, crew, and the naturalist himself to where he had seen the shark. With the dragon to protect them, Tybalt, his pilots, and a crew of defensive sorcerers descended in the new submarine, dubbed Deep Ranger, to where the beast had been last seen. Upon their descent to the bottom where Panthalasson discovered the gigantic teeth, Lord Tybalt was astounded; the reports were true, even if the shark’s teeth were the only clue to its existence. But this was only a precursor of what was to come…
As the submarine’s crew documented their finds, the vehicle’s radar detected an incoming object of gargantuan size. As the stunned crew and dragon watched in amazement, a massive shark; the same one Panthalasson had seen before almost a year ago, according to his account based on its distinctive scars, appeared out of the inky gloom. Circling the sub, it began to flash with bioluminescence as it investigated the explorers. Having encountered the shark, Panthalasson made contact using his mind. Though he determined the shark had no interest in them as food (they were far too small to be a meal), the shark’s decision to mouth the submarine briefly so it could better understand the strange visitors could have led to catastrophe had it not been made of Iilbrithin. Having withstood the shark’s “assault”, the crew had Panthalasson tag the shark with a special crystal tracking beacon, which would allow them to follow its movements.
  The encounter would last hours: the shark, its curiosity satisfied and seeing the sub was not a threat, guided dragon and explorers into the dark abyss, where the deep abyssal plain gave way to volcanic geothermal vents, deep trenches, and undersea meadows of deepwater corals, sponges, and crinoids, not to mention more manokameles, young and adult, which circled curiously but did not attack, instead flashing their bioluminescence and turning invisible again and again, which Panthalasson realized was a greeting. His attempts to copy it were crude, but still had the desired effect. Eventually, the encounter ended when the sub began to run out of air. Informing their unusual hosts that they needed to return to the surface far above, the dragon took Tybalt’s crew surface-bound, and were escorted by the sharks, who slowly changed color to match the depth. This ability explained why the sharks had never been seen until now even when near the surface; they were able to avoid being seen as they pleased, and no body had been found before because they lived too deep and too far out to sea. Even juveniles dared not come too close to shore and when they died, no body would remain for long due to their cartilage skeletons and the innumerable scavengers and deep reef builders that would cover the bodies. Once Tybalt's submersible broke the surface, the great sharks returned to the deep, using their psychic link to Panthalasson to say goodbye.
  The expedition a success and more, Lord Tybalt and Panthalasson published their findings, providing footage recorded by the viewing crystals and their audio files from their radios as added proof. Thus was the greatest predator of the seas discovered at last. Panthalasson was changed by the adventure significantly, and began studying the sharks more in depth, leading to his discoveries regarding many of their habits.
According to the dragon’s research, the diet of these sharks is comprised heavily of sea serpents, leviathans, and krakens. A sample of flesh taken from a Manokemele’s stomach after it regurgitated an unpleasant meal also suggests an undiscovered giant ray is an important component, along with some sort of monstrous deep-sea crab, or lobster. Nevertheless, the shark’s ability to turn invisible allows it to effectively ambush prey, approaching them largely unseen until it is too late. This is aided by the shark’s turn of speed; where it can charge at prey at more than 35 knots. Giant armored denticles, similar to the scales of a sturgeon, protect the shark’s flanks, belly and back, deflecting all but the most dangerous teeth, claws, and beaks. The teeth of this shark are heterodont, with the upper teeth resembling those of a tiger shark, while the lower teeth resemble those of makos. The lower teeth pinion prey as the shark bites down, while the upper teeth can slice, cut and cleanly remove flesh and bone in one bite as the shark shakes its head from side to side as it feeds.
  The shark relies heavily on both its powerful eyesight and its ability to detect electrical fields by way of its electroreceptor organs, which adorn the snout. Its vision is better than any other shark; ironscale manokameles can see in fine detail at any depth, but like all sharks, they are colorblind, seeing the world in black, white, and shades of gray, which gives them excellent vision at depths with no light. The eyes at first glance appear largely black, but on close inspection, have a round blue iris surrounding a horizontally slit pupil, much like the eyes of its smaller relatives, such as great whites, makos, and other lamnid sharks.
Like cephalopods, which are also colorblind, these sharks camouflage using a combination of skin cells: chromatophores, iridophores, and leucophores. While chromatophores change color into blacks, browns, reds, and yellows, the iridophores and leucophores reflect light back at various wavelengths allowing the shark to match its background. As a result, beyond a faint outline, the shark can appear invisible when it wants to remain unseen. Additionally, the ironscale manokamele is bioluminescent, with unique spots and stripes that can glow bright blue. These unique stripes glow thanks to special chemical reactions within the shark's skin. When combined with its chromatophores, iridophores and leucophores, this can result in beautiful patters undulating across the shark’s skin, resulting in a display as beautiful as any aurora, or allow it to hide itself so completely that only sonar can determine its location.
  Ironscale manokameles also use their color changes for communication, though the exact repertoire is largely undeciphered at present. What is known is that they have a friendly greeting, a dominance display, threat display, and more. Like other sharks, they also use body language to express themselves, and arch their backs while lowering their fins to threaten an enemy.
  Other facets of the shark’s biology and behavior are poorly known. Next to nothing is understood about their reproduction, including where they breed, except that they give birth to live young, and even then, litter size is unknown. It is not known whether they are migratory or territorial, and their social habits are poorly understood. Research is currently ongoing.
  There is no industry for the ironscale manokamele, nor should there be. It lives too far out at sea, is too big to hunt, and is too clever to catch, for these sharks are smart enough to avoid being seen when they choose to, and can seemingly determine friend from foe. Any sightings that might have been attributed to it in the past cannot be completely verified, as their ability to turn invisible makes it near-impossible to differentiate between an encounter and naturally rough seas. However, in the years since their discovery, the ironscale manokamele have been sighted far more frequently, suggesting they may be growing bolder and more curious towards surface-dwelling creatures. Only time will tell if this is out of curiosity, hunger, or feeling they no longer need to hide.

Description
“This is arguably the most amazing and terrifying discovery of the last 2,000 years! The hidden apex predator of the seas! The largest shark of all time!” - Panthalasson, the water elemental dragon, on his and Lord Theodore Tybalt’s newly published description of the newly discovered Ironscale manokamele to Lord Tybalt after their joint discovery of the shark in 1990 ADH.

  The true apex predator of Kairegorn’s Belemnite Sea, Ferruisurus chameleopristis, the ironscale manokamele (pronounced “Mon-O-Kaa-May-Lay”) is a gigantic lamniform shark that has, until the last decade, remained undiscovered in the depths.
  First discovered in 1990 ADH by the elemental dragon Panthalasson and biologist Theodore Tybalt, a leading member of Kairegorn’s Natural Heritage Society, the ironscale manokamele is massive; growing more than three-quarters of a mile long (3,960 feet), it is the largest predator of the seas. Until recently, it was assumed that the bites of the shark on rare leviathan and kraken corpses were the result of territorial battles between the species, or predator-prey interactions. However, the underwater explorations of the dragon Panthalasson, who helped discover the species, showed otherwise. During an exploration of the deepwater continental shelf in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zone in 1989 ADH, Panthalasson, who can breathe underwater and dive to great depths thanks to his unique magical enhancements, came across the teeth of this shark, encrusted with coral and so large that he was dumbstruck. Realizing the area he was exploring was littered with these teeth, he began to search for the owner, suddenly feeling very exposed. When a massive shadow passed over the dragon, who had lit up the water around him, he realized he was not alone; exposed to a gigantic, heavily armored shark the size of a small island. Disturbed by the light, the shark immediately changed color, turning almost completely invisible and disappeared. Slowly, calmly, and never taking his eye off the depths in the event the beast came back, Panthalasson returned to the surface, whereupon he immediately teleported to another body of water, close to the city of Galleon, where he knew Lord Tybalt was staying.
  Describing the encounter in full detail to the naturalist, the dragon suggested a joint expedition to find the shark again. Excited by the prospect, Lord Tybalt and Panthalasson began funding an expedition, using the treasures from sunken pirate ships Panthalasson had found or sank during his campaign against crime and the Dark Corps. With designs purchased from Arnen Sledgefang, the top inventor of the Order of the Dragon Riders, they also began building a submarine of unrivaled complexity and strength made from precious supplies of Iilbrithin, capable of diving to the deepest depths and equipped with a crystal viewing screen to allow the ship to be completely sealed without windows while still allowing the pilots and passengers to see outside without the risk of implosion.
  Preparation took almost a year, even with the best dwarven craftsmen and technicians to aid them. Once they were ready, Panthalasson escorted Tybalt’s hired ship, crew, and the naturalist himself to where he had seen the shark. With the dragon to protect them, Tybalt, his pilots, and a crew of defensive sorcerers descended in the new submarine, dubbed Deep Ranger, to where the beast had been last seen. Upon their descent to the bottom where Panthalasson discovered the gigantic teeth, Lord Tybalt was astounded; the reports were true, even if the shark’s teeth were the only clue to its existence. But this was only a precursor of what was to come…
As the submarine’s crew documented their finds, the vehicle’s radar detected an incoming object of gargantuan size. As the stunned crew and dragon watched in amazement, a massive shark; the same one Panthalasson had seen before almost a year ago, according to his account based on its distinctive scars, appeared out of the inky gloom. Circling the sub, it began to flash with bioluminescence as it investigated the explorers. Having encountered the shark, Panthalasson made contact using his mind. Though he determined the shark had no interest in them as food (they were far too small to be a meal), the shark’s decision to mouth the submarine briefly so it could better understand the strange visitors could have led to catastrophe had it not been made of Iilbrithin. Having withstood the shark’s “assault”, the crew had Panthalasson tag the shark with a special crystal tracking beacon, which would allow them to follow its movements.
  The encounter would last hours: the shark, its curiosity satisfied and seeing the sub was not a threat, guided dragon and explorers into the dark abyss, where the deep abyssal plain gave way to volcanic geothermal vents, deep trenches, and undersea meadows of deepwater corals, sponges, and crinoids, not to mention more manokameles, young and adult, which circled curiously but did not attack, instead flashing their bioluminescence and turning invisible again and again, which Panthalasson realized was a greeting. His attempts to copy it were crude, but still had the desired effect. Eventually, the encounter ended when the sub began to run out of air. Informing their unusual hosts that they needed to return to the surface far above, the dragon took Tybalt’s crew surface-bound, and were escorted by the sharks, who slowly changed color to match the depth. This ability explained why the sharks had never been seen until now even when near the surface; they were able to avoid being seen as they pleased, and no body had been found before because they lived too deep and too far out to sea. Even juveniles dared not come too close to shore and when they died, no body would remain for long due to their cartilage skeletons and the innumerable scavengers and deep reef builders that would cover the bodies. Once Tybalt's submersible broke the surface, the great sharks returned to the deep, using their psychic link to Panthalasson to say goodbye.
  The expedition a success and more, Lord Tybalt and Panthalasson published their findings, providing footage recorded by the viewing crystals and their audio files from their radios as added proof. Thus was the greatest predator of the seas discovered at last. Panthalasson was changed by the adventure significantly, and began studying the sharks more in depth, leading to his discoveries regarding many of their habits.
According to the dragon’s research, the diet of these sharks is comprised heavily of sea serpents, leviathans, and krakens. A sample of flesh taken from a Manokemele’s stomach after it regurgitated an unpleasant meal also suggests an undiscovered giant ray is an important component, along with some sort of monstrous deep-sea crab, or lobster. Nevertheless, the shark’s ability to turn invisible allows it to effectively ambush prey, approaching them largely unseen until it is too late. This is aided by the shark’s turn of speed; where it can charge at prey at more than 35 knots. Giant armored denticles, similar to the scales of a sturgeon, protect the shark’s flanks, belly and back, deflecting all but the most dangerous teeth, claws, and beaks. The teeth of this shark are heterodont, with the upper teeth resembling those of a tiger shark, while the lower teeth resemble those of makos. The lower teeth pinion prey as the shark bites down, while the upper teeth can slice, cut and cleanly remove flesh and bone in one bite as the shark shakes its head from side to side as it feeds.
  The shark relies heavily on both its powerful eyesight and its ability to detect electrical fields by way of its electroreceptor organs, which adorn the snout. Its vision is better than any other shark; ironscale manokameles can see in fine detail at any depth, but like all sharks, they are colorblind, seeing the world in black, white, and shades of gray, which gives them excellent vision at depths with no light. The eyes at first glance appear largely black, but on close inspection, have a round blue iris surrounding a horizontally slit pupil, much like the eyes of its smaller relatives, such as great whites, makos, and other lamnid sharks.
Like cephalopods, which are also colorblind, these sharks camouflage using a combination of skin cells: chromatophores, iridophores, and leucophores. While chromatophores change color into blacks, browns, reds, and yellows, the iridophores and leucophores reflect light back at various wavelengths allowing the shark to match its background. As a result, beyond a faint outline, the shark can appear invisible when it wants to remain unseen. Additionally, the ironscale manokamele is bioluminescent, with unique spots and stripes that can glow bright blue. These unique stripes glow thanks to special chemical reactions within the shark's skin. When combined with its chromatophores, iridophores and leucophores, this can result in beautiful patters undulating across the shark’s skin, resulting in a display as beautiful as any aurora, or allow it to hide itself so completely that only sonar can determine its location.
  Ironscale manokameles also use their color changes for communication, though the exact repertoire is largely undeciphered at present. What is known is that they have a friendly greeting, a dominance display, threat display, and more. Like other sharks, they also use body language to express themselves, and arch their backs while lowering their fins to threaten an enemy.
  Other facets of the shark’s biology and behavior are poorly known. Next to nothing is understood about their reproduction, including where they breed, except that they give birth to live young, and even then, litter size is unknown. It is not known whether they are migratory or territorial, and their social habits are poorly understood. Research is currently ongoing.
  There is no industry for the ironscale manokamele, nor should there be. It lives too far out at sea, is too big to hunt, and is too clever to catch, for these sharks are smart enough to avoid being seen when they choose to, and can seemingly determine friend from foe. Any sightings that might have been attributed to it in the past cannot be completely verified, as their ability to turn invisible makes it near-impossible to differentiate between an encounter and naturally rough seas. However, in the years since their discovery, the ironscale manokamele have been sighted far more frequently, suggesting they may be growing bolder and more curious towards surface-dwelling creatures. Only time will tell if this is out of curiosity, hunger, or feeling they no longer need to hide.