Abyssopelagic Dragon

One of the few personal designs that care to model. I used to do digital painting but haven't finished anything since 2016 so this has been sitting in my sketchbook for a while.

This was inspired by hearing that Black Dragonfish are one of the few deep sea fish that can see red and is capable of red bioluminescence. That and the name. But that gave me the idea of adventures from the surface visiting a deep ocean merfolk village when they see a red glow approaching from the depths. The locals don't know what they are talking about then they see this approach from the depths and only they are able to effectively fight it.

The lure at the end of the tendril glows white and the red spots glow bright red like a massive searchlight. They have full control of when they glow and how brightly they glow. The lure is used when attracting easy prey or dazzling its foes with a short bright flash in combat. The red lights are typically on whenever they are awake as most creatures that live a