Some thoughts on the lusca (sharktopus)

The lusca is a cryptid reputed to swim the waters of the Caribbean, variously described as part shark, dragon, and octopus. In modern popular culture, like Pathfinder Bestiary, it is often depicted as a "sharktopus."
Googling sharktopus gets all sorts of interesting art. These sorts of creatures have many variations in appearance. Here are some examples I found:

The squark ("squid-shark") or shuid ("shark-squid") is a giant squid with the mouth of a shark, including the rows of teeth, replacing its typical beak. These appear in the D&D Monstrous Manual and one individual, named "Sharg", appears in the Dark Sun campaign setting.

The sharktopus ("shark-octopus") is a shark with its tail replaced by the arms (and tentacles, if any) of a cephalopod, typically an octopus.

The three-headed sharktopus is similar to the sharktopus, except with three heads. This is the "lusca" depicted in Pathfinder Bestiary.

A fourth variety, the bearsharktopus ("bear-shark-octopus"), is the deadliest. It has the body of a bear, the head of a shark, and the arms of an octopus.

Links

• http://wiwords.com/word/lusca
• http://chainsawchirurgeon.blogspot.com/2015/06/5e-hybrid-animal-first-sharktopus.html
• http://dailybestiary.blogspot.com/2017/04/lusca.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20170301084649/http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article73.htm
• https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bearsharktopus
• http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/1804769/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/62wshg/3e35_does_anyone_have_a_copy_of_the_sekolah/
• https://abookofcreatures.com/2020/06/15/lusca/