Carnictis

Carnictis
Name:	Carnictis
Abilities;	Agile movement, Sharp Teeth, Can swallow prey whole, Muscle Strength
Occupation:	Worm-like creature in the abyss chasms
Home:	Skull Island
First Appearance:	King Kong (2005 film)
Diet:	Carnivore
Status:	Became extinct when Skull Island sunk into the ocean

Carnictis Sordicus </span (Vile Meat-Weasel) is a worm-like parasite that lives in the abyssal chasms of Skull Island. They can be 7-13 feet long.

Description

Undisputedly the most repulsive denizen of the hellish rents in the Skull Island interior is the Carnictis. Writhing, serpentine, shaped vermicular carnivores of the tepid sludge that suffocate the depths of the chasms, they are feeders on the dead and wounded. Carnictis are slow-moving but relentless. Lacking eyes or a face of any sort (unless a sphincter maw of teeth can be considered a face), Carnictis are little more than an animated stomach that folds in and out of itself with obscene undulation.

File:Carnictis 2.jpg

Flatworms similar to the related parasitic tapeworms that can infest other species of animal such as humans, the ancestors of the Carnictis lived in the guts of large predatory dinosaurs, where they devoured the half-digested flesh swallowed by their hosts. At some point in their history, these gut parasites must have evolved so they could survive outside the confines of their hosts’ intestinal tracts. They made their new homes in the geothermal spring-fed sludge that clots the bowls of the island. It is theorized that long ago, a V. rex or a similar predator fell into one of the chasms and died, its parasite cargo disgorging slowly from the carcass to find themselves in the rich organic river in the pit’s base. Instead of drying up and dying, they thrived. Warmed by the hot, geothermal water bubbling into the syrup of the pits, the worms were sustained on the flesh of other animals falling into the chasm from the jungle above. Parasites no longer, they have swelled to disturbing new proportions and have become carrion-eating scavengers/predators of the “abyss.” With their new size and strength they can overwhelm and consume live prey like Venatosaurus impavidus, dragging the slow or wounded to their deaths below the surface. Requiring very specific environmental conditions, Carnictis are restricted to a few cavernous rents and sinkholes that suit their particular needs. Squirming downstream through the muck to where the chasms open into rivers is death. The cooling water sucks their life away, while any pit that sees a drought of carrion or fresh meat will similarly devastate the great worm.

However, the Carnictis has developed a survival strategy. While the adults are susceptible to change, eggs can survive for decades in a dormant state, waiting for a return of favorable conditions to hatch and spread.

Relationship with Arachno-Claws

Most Arachno-Claw eggs never survive to hatching, destroyed by other carrion-feeders or drowned in the thick muck. However, a lucky few survive long enough to be ingested by the great Carnictis, later hatching in the worm’s gut, where they spend their larval stage living as intestinal parasites. Years later, fattened on the meat they steal from their worm host, they undergo a metamorphosis and emerge from the flatworm’s rectum as miniature versions of the adults, crawling out to join their parents as free-roving scavengers and predators of the “abyss”.

Role in the film

When the human crew fell into the abyss chasm, several arachnid and insectoid creatures, such as the Arachno-Claw, attacked them, killing many of the unfortunate humans. The Carnictis were among those who attacked. They floated and swam in the muck toward the humans in huge groups. Lumpy was the first to be attacked. He fought back, punching their tooth-filled, gaping maw/heads, but he was then attacked (and distracted) by a Weta-rex, giving the worms time to surround him. Lumpy then grabbed his machete and bravely fought the creatures, decapitating at least two, only to see another swallowing his leg. A Carnictis then engulfed his arm, and as he tried to cut it with his machete, another Carnictis bites and swallows his head, as the Carnictises finally overwhelmed and devoured him. They can be seen in the background when the Arachno-Claw toss a crewman’s body. Carnictis were killed or crushed offscreen by other bugs when Captain Eaglehorn and Bruce Baxter rescued the crew from the chasm.

Trivia

• Carnictis resemble Ottoia, a prehistoric worm from the Cambrian period.
• Carnictis appeared in the Universal-Studios web-series Myth Explorer.
• Earlier concept art of the Carnictis resembled slugs and walruses.
• The Carnictis was nick-named the "Pit-Slug" by producers in the King Kong Extras.

Known Victims

• Lumpy

Appearances

• King Kong (2005 film) (first appearance)
• Skull Island: Reign of Kong (Islands of Adventure, Universal)

Gallery

Lumpy is devoured by a whole group of Carnictis.

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Model Display for Skull Island: Reign of Kong