Reefback Leviathan FULL BIOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN: Marine Biologist Explains

本站添加: 2026-05-09

[00:00:04]Hello everyone.

[00:00:05]Welcome back to the channel.

[00:00:07]Today, we are talking about yet another Subnautica Leviathan, but today it's going to be a little different.

[00:00:14]Today, we talk about the first passive Leviathan, the Reefback.

[00:00:19]This might be my favorite creature in the game, and maybe the most important animal on 4546B, besides the Sea Emperor.

[00:00:28]As it seems to be one of only two keystone species we encounter.

[00:00:32]The other, again, being the Sea Emperor.

[00:00:39]What is a keystone species, I hear you asking? It's an organism that has a disproportionately large impact on its environment relative to its population size.

[00:00:50]Without said keystone species, the ecosystem it resides in would completely collapse.

[00:00:56]Now, the important part of this term is relative to its population size.

[00:01:02]Let's look at an example.

[00:01:04]A kelp forest is a type of reef often seen in rocky coastal cold water environments. Think of the coast of California.

[00:01:12]The kelp itself is very important to the ecosystem, as without it, a kelp forest wouldn't be a kelp forest, because there wouldn't be any kelp.

[00:01:21]However, the kelp isn't a keystone species because it has such a large population.

[00:01:28]The same goes for coral in a coral reef, trees in a forest, you get the idea.

[00:01:33]The keystone species in a kelp forest is actually a sea otter.

[00:01:38]While there aren't too many of them, they are extremely important because they eat sea urchins.

[00:01:44]Urchins graze upon kelp, and left unchecked, they would wipe out the kelp.

[00:01:49]However, the sea otters eating the urchin allows for a delicate balance in the kelp forest.

[00:01:55]It's important to note that not necessarily every ecosystem has a keystone species.

[00:02:01]But why is the Reefback a keystone?

[00:02:04]In my opinion, they closely resemble another large keystone species, the African elephant. These intelligent giants migrate across the African savanna, uprooting trees as they go.

[00:02:16]While the giraffe has a long neck that allows it to reach the nutritious leaves at the top of acacia trees, elephants evolved a prehensile trunk and considerable strength to rip the trees from the earth in order to feast. The acacia attracts the African elephant with its leaves, encouraging the elephant to uproot it, and in the process, they disperse the acacia seeds for it when violently shaking the tree.

[00:02:41]Without the African elephant, the acacia wouldn't be able to spread its seeds very far and end up competing with its offspring for water and nutrients.

[00:02:49]Besides the acacia tree, African elephants tear up empty termite mounds for minerals important to their diet.

[00:02:54]These demolished termite mounds gradually collect rainwater and grow into watering holes, a true oasis in the savanna.

[00:03:01]Without the African elephant, the acacia trees wouldn't be able to spread, and water would be almost nonexistent in any substantial amounts.

[00:03:09]They are truly the unsung heroes of the savanna.

[00:03:12]The Reefback leviathan bears a somewhat similar role in Subnautica, at least that's what I hypothesize, as they are extremely important in the creation and persistence of coral reefs.

[00:03:22]We can see all the species that grow on the Reefback, Cuddlefish, which ride the beast through the oceans to all of the seamounts found around the planet. On Earth, the areas in which corals inhabit are typically very wide, spanning hundreds or thousands of miles of shallow seas, allowing corals to exist.

[00:03:41]Side note, when I refer to corals, I'm talking about the colorful shallow-water species with the zooxanthellae algae, not the deep-water species that don't need any algae.

[00:03:50]Anyway, the real-life coral is able to release its sperm and egg into the water column, where they meet and form a zygote. That zygote will not have to travel far in order for it to find a suitable place to root down and start growing. But, planet 4546B is not nearly so forgiving.

[00:04:07]As we can see briefly after launching the rocket, the vast majority of the planet's surface is water with very small land masses dotting the otherwise blue surface, likely caused by a hot spot, the same process that created the crater we play on. Because of this, coil zygotes would likely need to travel for thousands of miles on ocean currents in order to find a suitable place to settle down.

[00:04:29]And while this is definitely possible, I hardly imagine it's the most viable reproductive strategy. And so, a multitude of sessile organisms utilize the Reefbacks' nomadic nature to transport their offspring.

[00:04:41]While we don't see Reefbacks in the void, I suspect they regularly venture out there in order to feed upon the plethora of plankton we deduced would have to exist in order to support the Ghost Leviathans.

[00:04:52]Speaking of them, I doubt they would pay the Reefbacks any mind, as they hardly look like an animal to begin with, let alone a potential threat to the Ghost's territory. But, the Reefbacks wouldn't just cruise around the void surrounding the crater.

[00:05:04]They would venture far, far beyond into the open waters between seamounts.

[00:05:09]Do you remember in the Reaper Leviathan's video how I mentioned their deep roar would carry far, but not give them a very good idea of what was out there?

[00:05:16]Well, the Reefbacks' rumbling calls are even lower pitched than the Reaper roar, and would likely carry for potentially hundreds of miles in the ocean.

[00:05:24]And while it wouldn't be able to tell them if there was a little fish a few miles away, it would be able to help them locate land masses in which to seek out more plankton to eat, as well as a place to safely settle down and molt.

[00:05:36]I imagine the Reefback molts, as everything with an exoskeleton does, and likely uses seamounts as a place to safely hide in its new exoskeleton. The seamount itself would likely be nearly or entirely lifeless, But the act of only molting on barren seamounts would be a vestigial trait to the Reefback to protect its soft underbody from potential open water predators that, according to the PDA, have long since gone extinct.

[00:06:00]The old molt is left on the barren seamount where the coils are left to proliferate. As more species are brought by more Reefbacks, small fish and other creatures such as peepers that stuck around the Reefback during its inner seamount journey begin to populate the seamount, drawing in larger predatory species such as stalkers and sand sharks, which in turn bring in larger predators like the Reaper. And pretty soon, you have a thriving ecosystem on a rock sticking out of the otherwise seemingly empty ocean.

[00:06:27]That's not necessarily how it works on Earth, but this is more fun.

[00:06:31]Actually, there are some species that spread out with the help of other species such as barnacles and other sessile creatures riding on the shells of sea turtles, so it's technically not too far off.

[00:06:41]All of that is to say that without the Reefback leviathan, most likely none of the species on the crater, or probably any of the other seamounts across 4546B's endless ocean, would harbor any life.

[00:06:54]Thank you all so much for watching. I realize this isn't nearly as long of a video as the ghosts of Reapers, but I feel I got everything across that I needed to.

[00:07:03]Think I missed something in my explanation or have your own hypothesis?

[00:07:06]Let me know in the comments and I'll try to address it later on.

[00:07:10]Like what you see? A like and a sub go a long way.

[00:07:13]Anyway, that's all I got for you guys today. You all have yourselves a good one and I hope you learned something.