Merikut

Merikuts are small, crab like creatures native to the planet Untra. The exoskeletons of smaller Merikuts are a very valuable commodity throughout the Freyja system, used mostly for jewelry. However, there are strict laws against killing wildlife for sport on Untra, so because of this and their unique escape mechanism, Merikuts have been able to thrive on the planet.

Physiology
Merikuts are small, generally between 2 and 20 cm long, creatures with a hard exoskeleton. They have two legs, one on either side of their body, with long, flat feet facing parallel to the body. Their legs act like springs, allowing them to jump through the water, or much higher on land. They have been seen in rust-red, black, sapphire blue and bronze. They have two eyes on the front of the top of their body/head, and one limb facing out forwards with a claw on the end for grabbing things, or for pulling themselves forward. To balance this, their bodies protrude out backwards into a curved point, with a flat top. The claw limb originates from the middle of the front of their body, below the eyes. They have a small mouth on the underside of their body, with two small pincers there for grabbing food from beneath.

Behaviour
Merikuts generally comb the ocean floor alone, searching for food. They can kill small prey, such as Unis, with their claw. To eat, they move over top of their food and devour it with their mouth and pincers. They will also eat scavenged food. When they are not searching for food and are simply travelling to a destination, however, they will jump using their springed legs. When they feel threatened they will begin to jump away. Although this is not fast enough to escape from some of their predators, it does make their movements to fast for most creatures to catch them. Merikuts can survive on land, but only for short periods of time before they require water again. They can jump much higher on land than water because of the decreased friction.

Habitat
Merikuts live on the ocean floor of Untra.