Ghast (SciiFii)

The ghast (Ghasta fantasma) is a species of medium-sized, cave-dwelling cephalopod, closely related to octopuses, that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii, due to many people who commissioned real life versions of the Minecraft mob of the same name, and introduced throughout the caverns of Eurasia and North America to help boost biodiversity. The ghast is about the size of a East Pacific red octopus (when deflated) and has the most unusual forms of movement of any animal on Earth. Unlike marine octopuses the ghast has a large chamber in its body which holds gases like helium. That allows the ghast to float around in caves and feast on rock climbing lizards, arthropods and even plants. Another chamber houses a different kind of gas which bursts into flame in contact with oxygen. Exhaled sharply through the siphon, this is the ghast’s primary defence. Ghasts cannot control their arial buoyancy and have to refill their gas chambers from time to time. Because of this, the ghasts are highly strategic in their foraging, starting at the highest point of the cave and slowly progressing downwards until finally landing on the ground. As they are most vulnerable to predators on the ground ghasts will attempt to control where they land by swinging their arms or by holding them out to the sides like sails. Some ghasts build simple nests high up in the cliff wall where water frequently flows. Here they are safe from predators and can sleep and refill their gas chambers. Like marine octopuses ghasts have a short lifespan and often die after mating or after raising their 10,000 eggs in the case of the female. The conservation status of the ghast is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts and the ghast's wide range.

Gallery

A ghast breathing out fire.

The internal anatomy of the ghast.

A deflated ghast.