Carapaceon ecology : Daimyo Hermitaur and Shogun Ceanataur in Monster Hunter 

7:47 "The crab habit of dragging leaf litter and biomass down into their burrows" *"crab habit"* Crabit, if you will.

"Cannibalism is one way to get one's protein. F-for animals. And..."

I am surprised you didn't talk about Shen Gaoren, since it is basically a titan-sized Hermitaur, It is also described as peaceful despite its titanic size but it is hunted because its size is so huge that it causes massive destruction just by walking, so that could be interesting dichotomy to discuss about

Ah yes, the peak form of crustaceans that isn’t eldritch parasitic monsters

I like when Capcom make non reptile monsters, gives an more diverse and interesting variety on the game I would love in MH6 they make an lobster monster, or if they want more mammals maybe an whooly rhino that may have an rivalary with Gammoth

The carapaceons, particularly Shogun Ceanatuar, are some of my favorite monsters in the series. They really show off how creative monster designs can be and help keep things diverse. I really hope we get a new one alongside something like a Neopteran. I also really wanna see Shen Gaoren come back and get a modern glowup

When at the end of the last video you said that "it really doesn't have a roar" I had thinked it was going to be about endemic life I wasn't expecting the carapaceons. I'm not disappointed

The little mishap at 18:24 I see UHC trying to dissuade our worse impulses.

I really do hope we get a new carapaceon, I find quite a missed opportunity that they didn’t make a zombie inspired carb monster that wears bits of dead monsters like a twisted decorator for armour and move around in hordes like soldier crabs mixing the pop culture of zombies and the natural behaviour of crab species or something like that could fit in the rotten vale. In fact I think you could make a lot of new carapaceon just based on maps alone. It would be awesome to see a huge yeti crab based monster that covers its body in ice that’s native to the frozen sea way. But for crabs as they are there easy some of my favourite monster due to how unique they are compared to the rest of the roster, it’s the same reason why I’m a huge nargarala fan.

No mention of Shogun's weaponized 'water' jets. For shame. But it's funny how I remember you saying it'd be harder to make a video on the crabs when they were essentially just 'big crabs' so there wasn't much to say, but overall this was pretty enjoyable! Also I know you're loath to give Frontier any props, but I think Taikun Zamuza already did the whole 'sword & shield' fiddler crab idea really well. The only drawback I could think for it is it's final phase change. Which I think could easily be remedied by making it a separate fight and explaining it as a Taikun in a different stage of life, like Basarios and Gravios. And have it explain as something akin to Antlions or other such insects, where the younger, larval stage is actually a more effective predator than the adult stage, explaining why the smaller, younger stage is more dangerous than the sluggish, dirt-covered adult.

Great video as always. I never thought about Daimyo Hermitaur being able to muscle in and steal the kills of even apex predators like Nargacuga and the Raths. But it makes sense - an adult Hermitaur is a walking fortress with its incredibly thick and durable carapace - along with the incredibly thick skull protecting its behind. Attempting a frontal assault would be suicide, as Daimyo could grab them and crush their spinal cord with its incredibly powerful pincers. Even attacking from a distance isn't safe, as the crab can employ its powerful water beam. It's yet another example of a "weak" monster not actually being so weak against other monsters. Hunters just happen to be able to take one down more easily. In fact, the final quest in the Follower Quest arc for Hinoa and Minoto in Sunbreak is a hunt for a Daimyo Hermitaur and a Shogun Ceanataur...for the purpose of eating them.

sorry but the decapodian lifecycle chart fucking killed me lmao

UHC finally made a video on the crabs! It's time to Crab rave! 🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀

Honestly, they could bring over Taikun Zazuma from frontier and I'd be happy. Whittling down the massively over-encumbered physical powerhouse down to a Fast, tricky, elemental-based creature is a good concept, and I'm surprised it took the mainline games so long for the idea to be incorporated into Shara Ishvalda.

My two favorite nature channels posted videos on crabs in the same week! Glad so many people like them as much as I do

At last, da boiz are here! 🛡🦀⚔️🦀 Another great video to play while working on other things! Side note- I find it curious how there wasn’t a mention about ceanataurs still having normal crab claws when they’re small, that and Shen Gaoren I guess😂

Quality use of Zoidberg in a scientific discussion. The professor would be proud!

I never considered how the size of Daimyo’s claws might factor into its success as a scavenger. They’re probably an incredibly important feature to have in the Jungle, where decomposition takes place much faster and it may have to make do with nothing but bones. How do you suppose Rustrazor’s behavior of grinding its claws on a Glavenus skull, specifically, came about? Is it possible that it’s a learned behavior, developed over years of experimenting with different skulls, or is it instinctive to all Shoguns, and Rustrazor actually developed its signature pincers because of its choice to use Glavenus?

I always wondered how much butter it would take to boil these giant crabs

A pistl-shrimp monster is something im low key waiting on, fingers crossed...

A good crustacean to make a new Carapeceon would be a pistol shrimp, but it will require the return of water combat for a more effective use of it's weapon, although a lobster Carapeceon could also be added for more "amphibian" enviroments, making it more aquatic but also being just as good as Daymio on land

Man, crabs seem extremely effective. The ghost crab sacrificing seemingly nothing for the ability to be an actual predator is nuts. No wonder they independently evolve so often.

I wholeheartedly agree that more crabs would be welcome additions. maybe a yeti crab-like monster that gains static electricity for paralysis, or a monster designed off of a decorator crab that has interchangeable ailments from items in the environment that you have to avoid hitting, otherwise youd get the ailment.

No notes, just sincerely agree with the sentiment that we need more Carapaceons. Decorator crabs, mantis shrimp (which is already a monster hunter monster irl, complete with two varieties/fighting styles. They'd just need to scale it up), lobsters, pistol shrimp, fiddler crabs, the potential is just as endless and untapped as with piscines and neopterans/temnocerans. Speaking of untapped potential, Najarala up next! Maybe also some side notes on Remobra and Dalamadur?

I wonder if Daimyo might be in an evolutionary arms race with Bazelgeuse, as the two top scavengers in the old world. The blasting scales seem particularly useful against armored opponents, and the crushing claws and skull armor seem particularly useful against flying attackers that have a penchant for body slams

18:20 Panicked correction has to be one of my favorite emotions.

Not many things actually scare me in Monhun, but damn boy... The crabs have actually unsettling sounds...

HELL YES! My favourite monsters! I was hoping it would be this after you said they ‘had no roar’ I have come up with my own theories on these two after research of hermit crabs, so I can’t wait to watch this one when i get a chance, and see if you say the same as me.

in an interview near MHW's release, at the time when gaming journalists had a great deal of access to the game, where a question was posed about the discrepancy between the map of the new world we see in gameplay when we choose a local to go on an expedition and a map found in the 3rd/final base game quarters. the developers were pleased that they noticed this and pointed out that the map in the quarters was the real New World and the in game maps cover about half of it. i would personally love to see a future game return to the new world with not only the MHW maps but also expanding on this idea to roughly double the map count while using a fair bit of cut concepts too. some off these cut ideas for MHW can be seen in the old lagiacrus demo, such as a greater emphasis on lighting or lack of illumination in some zones. with those ideas, brightmoss would have actually been more useful and the rotton vale likely being more terrifying. perhaps the crabs prefer a local or locals on the rest of the continent that remains unexplored. i look forward to seeing these ideas expanded on in the future as MHW had some of the most creative maps in the series.

Glad to see another new video! Watching these as a biology nerd got me to actually borrow my fiancée’s copy of World and start playing monster hunter myself. Just made it to the coral highlands and discovered that I love the bow

New monster hunter game idea: an evolution simulator where you win when everything evolves into crab

Fatalis will eventually evolve into a crab Think about that shit

Really awesome to see you finally give the Carapaceons their own video. Despite there being a bit of stigma against Daimyo and Shogun for somehow being boring and/or basic, I'll always be happy to see them return in future games (with hopefully some new crabs too) and I'm glad you too share this pro-crab sentiment.

I’m quite upset that I didn’t get a notification when this came out despite having the bell on I love watching UHC videos when they come out

While I am definitely a dragon and dinosaur dude, I always love the monsters in MH that don't fit that profile. The crabs do a great job for hunt variety, and they were a great addition into SB. Hope to see them again, and/or more unique monsters like them in MH6. Great video as always!

"Gee, this would be a good moment to get something done." Sees UHC posted a new vid, "Hold that thought, it's CRAB TIME!!!"

Man i been in a rabbit hole of monster hunter lore and species variation. waiting for you to cover rajang and his electric abilities

18:20 I love that you had to specify as if the people who watch your vids are crazy enough to try it

On your idea of a fiddler crab and one big claw one small we have that with Stonefist. They could also bring in the multi shell crab from Frontier with same claw gimmick.

Loved this video, like all of them. Spent the kast two weeks trying guess at who it might be. Also, got alot ot say related to it. First a theory. Both the crab habitats, Daimyo in desert and Shogun is Volcanos, could be explained by alterations in the sea habitats. For Daimyo and his deserts, altering climate or sea levels causing perhaps a lush forest/jungle or vast sea that was in the place of the modern deserts to vanish could explain why Daimyo's are there. Like in your Plesioth video, maybe they are holdouts from a population that dwelled there in lusher times that are now isolated. As for Cenataur's volcanos, most of the MH Volcanos seem to be islands or coastal areas, so maybe they are relatively new. Maybe Cenataur ancestors loved around thermal vents that were there in the past, and merely slowly invaled to live on land as their habitat literally emerged from the ocean. Alternatively, both coukd come to such regions as part of migrations to find their iconic skulls to use as shells. On another note, Daimyo is so memorable in my head. 4U was my first Monster Hunter game as a kid, and I remember Daimyo being my forst true wall. I somehow had bludgeoned my way through the game without internalizing the need to updgrade my weapons and armor as frequentky as I shoukd have, and Daimyo was the one to pu ish me for it. He finally made me learn that lesson. So he's memorable to me as a wall. Also, I agree. MORE CRAB! MORE!

If I remember there was a carpaceon in frontier that did the sword and shield gimmick as well as one that had coated itself in mud and rocks that got faster as you broke the mud off

It would be interesting to see a video on Palicos and how they fit in to everything. How they operate outside human contact, how they've adapted and meshed into human society in different places and environments etc

regarding the closing thoughts on Pacific Rim, you also have to remember the kaiju were not animals that evolved into their present shape, they were genetically engineered and biologically augmented living weapons, so they're about as far away from realistic biology as organic robots.

That quick clarification at 18:20 is the cherry on the gorgeous crab cake (pun intended).

I want a crab monster thats like a fiddler crab with two differ "pincer" types. One big clublike, "shield" arm, and a long thin "lance/rifle" arm. It hides behind its shield and snipes hunters, or bashes them up close with its big old riot shield. Ecologically, it uses the long thin pincer to reach into cracks underwater to fish out eels octopi, or fish hidding in the fissures.

watching all these ecology monster hunter videos has now made me want a monster hunter spinoff thats about researching the monsters instead of hunting them

The idea of a Shogun variant that bounds like a ghost crab has now entered my mind and won’t leave.

🦀 CRAB SUPREMACY 🦀 Also I'm curious on your thoughts on Taikun Zamuza from Frontier, for how hit or miss the monsters from that game can be the mud matryoshka crab getting a mainline appearance is legit one of my biggest wishes for 6th gen :)

"Fair game for the Great Crabs" -i need that on a shirt or sticker

Love this video! Was wanted by everyone for so long and definitely held up. If not a little short. Thanks for the amazing content, my dude ❤️❤️❤️

This is the second crab-themed video I've seen this week. Two isn't much, but odd that two in a row happened this week.

We need some crab endemic life. Especially in the form of young versions of the big ones to act as meat sources and show off the ecosystem.

One theory i've had for the crab's fleshy appendage on their back is molting; a giant soft hole in your shell would likely make wiggling out of it easier which could be crucial in allowing their great size considering how lobsters can be killed from sheer exhaustion while molting later in life

GIANT ENEMY CRAB HIT ITS WEAKPOINT FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE

Something that would be cool for monster hunter to do would be having minor differences in appearance depending the habitat. Like the jungle Daimyo being more vibrant in colour and larger with the higher availability of food whereas the desert Daimyo is more dull orange for better camouflage. They arent seperate species yet but speciation is clearly setting in and with a few more generations they would eventually become separate species

Babe wake up a new unnatural history channel video just dropped

really ended that one with "in short, time for crab"

A fiddler crab or pompom crab monster would be so fun

Only halfway in but I want to make it known that Hermitaurs are no joke. It probably sounds like from this video that people harvest them like they are clubbing seals, but these things are basically THE most feared small monster in the Jungle. Both in gameplay and in canon lore.

imagine if they add smt along the lines of a pistol shrimp being able to use soundwaves to quickly stun and kill you. not to mention there are the lobsters from elden ring that can shoot mud lasers from their mouths so maybe a crab that shoot quick shots rather than a lengthy long telegraphed laser.

I have waited for this one for so long!, you so often referred to the young hermitaur as food item that I grew really curious what you could offer for a video on the crabs, plus they are a very good addition to the games so it’s always good to hear of them

"Cannibalism is another way of getting one's protein... For animals"

Good vid, but it would have been great if shen goaren and taikun zamuza (awesome crab from frontier) got a mention.

🦀crab gang 🦀 love my crabs Plum is a superior daimyou in 4U solely because it circles around with the bubble beam walk, which gives you a satisfying position based punish instead of getting barely anything, just wasting time running after it. Always a fan of crabs, they are fantastic in GU and Rise.

I think espinas skulls would be highly sought after by jungle daimyos; they’re big, armed with sharp spikes, and have a huge horn not unlike that of a monoblos. Meaning anything that tries to attack a daimyo with an espinas skull is likely going to get stabbed and slashed in the process. In short, an espinas skull would be a perfect form of protection for daimyos living in the jungle. Along with the fact that espinas live in high densities around the lake due to the abundance of young hermitaurs for them to eat.

Crab video is finally out, and ofc it did not disappoint! I am left with one question tho, how is it possible that Shogun has the mantis-like blades, but small ceanataurs have "regular" pincers? I almost thought it was gender dimorphism (with shoguns being females who adopt a more predatory lifestyle to accomodate the costs of breeding, and males being small generalists), but IIRC ingame descriprion labels ceanataurs as juveniles, so that leads to believe the claws morph into a new shape duringdevelopment ... would that be possible? As for the next video, I guess you could say it will be ... one of a kind? (no we are not talking about the other, small annoying one)

Nice to see you got a sponsor.

Shogun is just an angry triangle, i love it

How do you feel if one day Capcom going to add Pistol Shrimp and Mantis Shrimp? Also, did you know Volcano Snails that live in EXTREME heat AND has metal as scales exist?

So I got a question about daimyo hermitar shells, since we see them with blos wyvern skulls in the jungle which is on the other side of the old world from the desert, does that mean there might be some hermitar migration going on across the ocean floor?

You know i bet a super fast sand bubbler crab would be cool if it had its own beach area on the map also if shen goran comes back i want him to have zorra magderos skull

Another Fantastic Video!!!

"Cannibalism is another method of getting ones protein."

Excellent video, I find large crabs rather terrifying those the size of daimyo would make me faint

Taikun Zamuza from Frontier has that sort of "sword and shield" (or perhaps lance and shield?) thing that you mentioned going on, id be interested to hear your thoughts on it (although im aware youre not the biggest fan of Frontier's more out there concepts so you might not love its third phase lol)

Daimyou's claws make me nervous imagining them in the real world. They're not just huge but they also look biomechanically optimized for force and... look at that shear... i can't think of any monster parts it couldn't just snip through like paper, except maybe ruby basarios. Definitely feels like overkill, the hardness of the claw material would probably be the limiting factor.

I believe I recognize that roar anywhere GOTTA BE the snakes. I'll save my thoughts for when the video comes out but I got a lot to say on them

Tigrex: "Well, maybe we wouldn't sound so bad if someone didn't try play with their BIG MEATY CLAWS." Daimyo Hermitaur: "What did you say, Punk!" Tigrex: "BIG MEATY CLAWS!!!

Love the crabs. Such fun little (?) fellows.

When's the Whetfish episode

I've been watching this series of videos for a while now, and they have been highly entertaining and informative on both fictional and real animals. I've also been using them as research material for a Monster Hunter DnD game taking place in a continent we are designing as a group. Has Monster Hunter ever delved into other factions outside of the Hunting Guild such as poachers or possibly even monster-inspired religions? Also, what sorts of biomes, both real and those that are more out there (like Rotten Vale and Coral Highlands), might be interesting to get a spotlight on. Our map hosts a colder swamp, rocky hills with scrublands, and some other more familiar locations like Forests and a Taiga region.

Monster in a white void. This is a sign that the Unatural History Channel has uploaded!!!

I love it when it's Seafood Friday

We live, we love, we crab.

I'm honestly surprised this is your first time doing any video on the crabs.

3:15 seriously it seems that when I view that scene, the water is moving but I know it isn't.

At long last the Crab Video! Praise be to the Crab Video!

There is a fictional fiddler crab made by Kiabugboy that has Shield and Lance claws if your interested.

i wish you could find hermitaur molts on the desert maps, would be a neat touch. they would probably be found en masse in the cave areas of desert maps where molting is safer. the reason you cant find them may be that the hermitaurs themselves or some other animal consume the molts.

19:07 the middle shell looks like a lavasioth head

I almost choked on a blue berry at the thumbnail

i cant wait to find out how these crabs have a LASER

Lessgo my long awaited crab video

The baby with the juratodus helm for a Shell 🥺❤️

Another lovely video

Here me out, instead of a new crab... Lobster

🦀 Crab was never at option 🦀

Man, I used to love Shogun Ceanataur and its armor in 4U/Generations, but weirdly hated Daimyo Hermitaur with a burning passion. Those guys were some of the most unique hunts in the game, for better or for worse.

im surprised he isn't aware of Taikun Zamuza

CRAB CRAB CRAB CRAB CRAB