This section is intended to be an exact copy of what the survivor Helena Walker, the author of the dossiers, has written. There may be some discrepancies between this text and the in-game creature.
“
Species
Oncorhynchus grexlamia
Time
Late Miocene - Mid Pleistocene
Diet
Carnivore
Temperament
Evasive, Aggressive when attacked
Wild
Fairly unremarkable by the Island's standards, Oncorhynchus grexlamia is a generally passive fish. Its main form of protection is swimming in a large school. Oncorhynchus does not like conflict, and generally swims away from anything larger than itself at very high speeds.
Once provoked, however, Oncorhynchus becomes quite aggressive, along with its nearby brethren. It locks onto its prey with its long "saberteeth" and begins draining that creature's blood. This loss of blood is not too dangerous alone, but when a school of Oncorhynchus attack at once, their target quickly loses speed and stamina from blood loss, drowning if it cannot breath underwater.
Domesticated
Like many of the smaller fish found on or around the Island, Oncorhynchus cannot be tamed, but it is often herded and harvested for its resources. In particular, certain cuts of Oncorhynchus meat are considered to have superb quality, and are often referred to as "Prime Fish" used for specific high-end concoctions and taming the Island's many piscivorous creatures.
Sabertooth salmon lazily swim about in schools until a player enters the water, which, at that point, they begin to swim away from the player in all directions. However, if one salmon is attacked and still alive, it and its companions will all rush in to attack the player in a vicious frenzy of tooth and fin until they or the player are killed.
Appearance
The Sabertooth Salmon is a common fish species in the rivers of the ARK, and thus, a popular prey item for many water-dwelling species on the island. It resembles a modern-day salmon in all aspects save for large fangs protruding from its mouth that give the creature its name.
Color Scheme and Regions
Region 0:Body
Natural colors:
8
13
14
21
22
32
33
34
35
37
38
39
Region 1:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 2:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 3:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 4:Lower Fins
Natural colors:
8
13
14
21
22
32
33
34
35
37
38
39
Region 5:Lower Body and Fin Tips
Natural colors:
8
13
14
21
22
32
33
34
35
37
38
39
This section displays the Sabertooth Salmon's natural colors and regions. For demonstration, the regions below are colored red over an albino Sabertooth Salmon. The colored squares shown underneath each region's description are the colors that the Sabertooth Salmon will randomly spawn with to provide an overall range of its natural color scheme. Hover your cursor over a color to display its name and ID.
This information can be used to alter the Sabertooth Salmon's regions by entering cheat SetTargetDinoColor <ColorRegion> <ColorID> in the cheat console. For instance, cheat SetTargetDinoColor 0 6 would color the Sabertooth Salmon's "head, upper body/fins, and tail fin" magenta.
Region 0: Head, Upper Body/Fins, and Tail Fin
8
13
14
21
22
32
33
34
35
37
38
39
Region 1 is not used for this Creature.
Region 2 is not used for this Creature.
Region 3 is not used for this Creature.
Region 4: Lower Fins
8
13
14
21
22
32
33
34
35
37
38
39
Region 5: Lower Body and Fin Tips
8
13
14
21
22
32
33
34
35
37
38
39
Region 0:Head, Upper Body/Fins, and Tail Fin
Natural colors:
14
28
29
35
45
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
80
81
82
92
Region 1:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 2:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 3:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 4:Lower Fins
Natural colors:
14
28
29
35
45
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
Region 5:Lower Body and Fin Tips
Natural colors:
0
14
28
29
35
45
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
80
81
82
This section displays the Sabertooth Salmon's natural colors and regions. For demonstration, the regions below are colored red over an albino Sabertooth Salmon. The colored squares shown underneath each region's description are the colors that the Sabertooth Salmon will randomly spawn with to provide an overall range of its natural color scheme. Hover your cursor over a color to display its name and ID.
This information can be used to alter the Sabertooth Salmon's regions by entering cheat SetTargetDinoColor <ColorRegion> <ColorID> in the cheat console. For instance, cheat SetTargetDinoColor 0 6 would color the Sabertooth Salmon's "side stars" magenta.
X-Sabertooth Salmon is a tameable X variant of the Sabertooth Salmon found in the Lunar Biome on Genesis: Part 1. It is identical to the normal species except for a patterned coat. It has 5% × Melee Damage increase at the exchange of 3% × Health reduction. On official servers its level cap is 500.
Like all X-Creatures on Genesis: Part 1, wild X-Sabertooth Salmon additionally have a 250% damage increase and a 60% damage reduction from players and tamed creatures.
Can be used every 0.67s by both a rider and the AI.
Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Sabertooth Salmon.
General
Sabertooth Salmon very rarely swim alone. Found in groups of 3-4+, provoking one can very quickly become a very bad decision if not prepared.
Strategy
When fighting the salmon it is important to remember that their bleed is a killer, so staying near the shore is a viable strategy. Simply swim far enough to hit the fish with a spear or bow ( or crossbow if available ) then swim back. This will aggro all nearby salmon but they will be easy pickings from the shore with a spear or pike.
Weaponry
Long range weapons such as a bow or crossbow can be a cheap and simple way to dispatch of these fish from the shore or shallow bodies of water. Long reaching spears and pikes are also valid options.
Dangers
When attacked, a Sabertooth Salmon will usually flee for a few seconds, but will then come back and attack. Any other Sabertooth Salmon in the area will also become aggressive and swarm the attacker. It's bleed effect however should be the primary concern as it can drain Stamina thus slowing down the survivor's speed significantly in water it is recommended to stay close to the surface should you find yourself swarmed
Weakness
Often limited in health and seems to possess a larger hit box than Piranhas.
They also have decent knockback which can be used to push yourself towards land.
Taming
Sabertooth Salmon can be 'tamed' using Fish Basket. They can level, however they do not eat from the trough.
Utility
Roles
Food Source: Sabertooth Salmon can easily be bulked trapped by use of walls and dinosaur doors, guaranteeing a readily available source of Prime Fish for taming and recipes.
Pet: Like all aquatic animals tamed via Fish Basket, they can be kept as pets.
Escort: Rather nimble, they can keep up with most aquatic mounts. Despite their low stats, they are still nothing to sneeze at in terms of combat power, their stamina draining bleed can slow down an escaping enemy, providing ample time for you and your allies to close in on the target.
Collectibles
Notes/Trivia
For information pertaining specifically to the real-world Sabertooth Salmon, see the relevant Wikipedia article.
The dossier was revealed by Jat on February 1, 2016 [1]
The generic name means "hooked nose", referring to the shape of its mouth. The specific epithet roughly means "gregarious swallower", referring to its social nature and ferocity when provoked, but it is incorrectly constructed; the correct form would be gregilamia.
Like Coelacanth, they can appear in different sizes. The smallest are barely larger than a human’s arm, some of the smallest creatures in game, while the largest are beasts that can be comparable in size to an Ichthyosaurus, if not larger, and could easily be ridden if it was allowed. Note that size seems to affect amount and quality of meat, but does not reflect what level the fish is. Small fish can be just as dangerous (if not more so because they’re harder to hit) as larger ones if you attack them!
Beyond their fangs, adults of Sabertooth salmon had larger gill rakers compared to their smaller, modern relatives, leading scientists to suggest that the adults ate plankton.
Real Salmon lay eggs, however Ark's Sabertooth Salmon do not.
The Salmon are cloned by the Overseer to maintain their presence in the ecosystem, because they are either completely unable to breed or their population is unable to recover manually.
The game does not assign any genders to the Salmon, making players unable to breed them.
Salmon in real life sacrifice their lives using all of their strength to reach their birth place to lay their eggs. The salmon die after laying their eggs.