Colo claw fish

"Argh! Monster's back!"

The colo claw fish was one of the largest creatures found in the depths of Naboo's seas. The body of the colo was very long and flat, with two rows of bioluminescent nodules along either side, which were used to attract prey.

It was the second-largest predator on Naboo, larger than the opee sea killer, beaten out in size only by the massive sando aqua monster.^[2]

Characteristics[]

The colo had a massive, crocodile-like head which sported a long snout, stalked eyes, two mandible-like appendages, and a row of venomous fangs for subduing prey.^[4] The jaws of a colo claw fish had the ability to unhinge, which allowed it to swallow quarry many times larger than its own head. Colo claw fish were usually indiscriminate feeders, swallowing anything that would fit down their throats. Their targets included young opee sea killers, which would often be swallowed alive; unfortunately for the colos, these opees could sometimes chew their way out of a colo's stomach. The colo claw fish also had the ability to stun fish with an intense hydrosonic screech, allowing the colo to close in and kill it.^[2]

Their stomachs could expand to accommodate larger prey, resulting in some colos looking bloated.^[2]

History[]

Colo3-woswfg — Young opee sea killers chew their way out of a colo's stomach.

Representations of the aquatic monster have been part of the Naboo folk culture for ages, often used to symbolize distrust and fear.^[5]

In 32 BBY, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Jar Jar Binks were stuck in a cave and accidentally woke a sleeping claw fish, which lunged at their sub with its mouth open^[4] to protecting her young.^[5] But the sub turned to escape so the claw fish pursued it. As the exit of the cave came, a sando aqua monster appeared, preparing to devour the sub but it went upwards. The claw fish attempted to go around the sando but the monster turned the same direction, bit down on the claw fish and devoured it.^[4]

Cloning of the species on Kamino resulted in the creation of the saberjowl population.^[6]

During the early stages of the Galactic Civil War, a claw fish attacked a StarSpeeder 1000 owned by the interstellar agency Star Tours while making its way through Naboo's core to the Rebel-owned airbase on the planet. Although it bit into the cockpit area, it was eventually electrocuted by R2-D2.^[7]

Behind the scenes[]

Concept artist Terryl Whitlatch wanted the colo claw fish to have an invertebrate look, so her early designs were based on an earwig. Later refinements incorporated crocodile and moray eel features into the design.^[5]

The colo claw fish is similar to real-world deep-sea predators, most notably the gulper eel.

In The Phantom Menace, the colo claw fish was developed as a computer-generated creature, like all the deep-sea dwellers of Naboo. Its glow was carefully added to allow the audience to see the creature in the dark caverns. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that the colo that chases the Gungan sub is a mother protecting her young.^[5]

The digital model for the colo claw fish was built by Howie Weed at Industrial Light & Magic. Originally the glowing spikes running along its back were not part of the design. Soon after the colo was being rendered in shots, the concept of adding a glowing fringe to the slug-like body was included, and then the glowing spikes were added to complete the look.

The Ultimate Edition of the soundtrack to Episode I incorrectly calls this a giant squid in the track title "The Giant Squid and The Attack on Theed."^[8]