Gobul

Gobul is a large angler, that shows great resemblance to both a blowfish and a flounder. It is found in the new Flooded Forest area. It sports a bio-luminescent lure, like an angler fish, it can protrude spikes out of its body, like a blowfish, and it can camouflage into the lake bed, like a flounder.

Gobul is often relatively passive, until it gets attacked. It spends most of its time laying under the river bed, exposing only its whiskers, to disguise itself as a common plant. During this hidden state, hunters can gather from it, but should be cautious as it is often a trap to lure its prey. This can also give several open spots for hunters to attack before it catches up. Sonic bombs can be used, in the same fashion as Diablos, to bring it out of hiding. While it tends to stay in the water, it does sometimes climb up on land, even if not chasing after prey.

When Gobul is under water and hidden in an area with a fishing spot, a Frog can be used to fish him out similar to fishing Plesioth on previous games. This causes him to flip over for about 15 seconds and he will then continue the fight on land in the current map. Fishing out Gobul is often a subquest and will lead to a bigger reward.

Its attacks include: "inflating" itself (exposing sharp spikes covering its back), then rolling over hunters, swinging its large, needle-covered tail, inflicting paralysis, and an underwater "vacuum breath," with which it draws hunters in close to its mouth and bites down. Otherwise, Gobul may hide underground to leap out at a target or recover stamina. Its bioluminescent lure can also inflict Faint status to the hunter, but can be broken just like the Gypceros's crest. Its lure can be broken and tail cut off. When enraged, Gobul will stay inflated, and its spikes will remain visible. When not inflated it is broad and flat, resembling a cross between a ray and anglerfish.

Trivia

 * Gobul will try to use its lantern even after a hunter has broken it.
 * When Gobul is unaware of the hunter's presence, its whiskers can be carved, its body can be attacked, or it can be forced out of hiding with a Sonic Bomb.
 * However, if the Gobul is aware of a hunter near it while hiding, it may extend its spines while surfacing. This will cause paralysis. Gobul may also try to stun the hunter with its lantern.
 * Gobul's lantern will dim when the monster is fatigued, but can still be used, though it has a slower charge up time.
 * All of Gobul's attacks are more powerful underwater.
 * Gobul's extended spikes will deflect attacks with green sharpness or less.
 * Fishing out Gobul at the beginning of a quest is a frequently-used tactic that can allow hunters time to attack with little-to-no resistance, thus making the hunt considerably easier.
 * Gobul is the most fish-like monster in tri as far as the way it swims in the water, but it is still considered a Leviathan because it has short, stumpy legs, is very clumsy on land (in comparison to the more adept plesioth), yet can still survive on the land for extensive periods of time.
 * Hunting the Gobul is not only the 3* urgent quest, but also the quest that the hunters need to complete to unlock the Long Sword.
 * When weakened the Gobul will rest at area 8. It will also hunt Epioth.
 * When weakened the Gobul will use a secret passageway to go to from area 3 to 8.

Analysis
Images created by Inkoseh. Damage values by Lord Grahf and DS31 as per http://www1.atwiki.com/mhiii/?page=Gobul