Sea Slug Girls

Well, not technically an entirely new idea, since it's already in the wiki, but it says "under construction." Which I suppose either means its all under control, or that being under construction means it still needs input. I thought since I've done a fair bit with the species already it might make sense to throw an overview out there in case it's needed or helpful in any way whatsoever. xD

Anyways, here is a short bio, and a couple of concept drawings. First two are characters you may or may not recognize from my stories, last one is mostly just general designs. (With the three on the right being more "typical," sea-slug girls - that is, they can't swim. I've sort of contradicted my own description by basing all three of my own characters on swimming sea-slugs.)


Sea Slug Girls

The aquatic counterpart of regular slug girls, found almost exclusively in saltwater. Sea slug girls share many of the attributes of their land counterparts, with similar voracious appetites and slow movement. Like many oceanic predators, sea-slug girls can grow very large, reaching lengths of over 200 feet long, twice the size of the average slug girl. The most notable difference, however, is their bold, bright, and often bizarre coloration and decoration. Many sea-slug girls are highly toxic, and their striking patterns serve as a warning in the smaller species for large predators to stay away. (Non-toxic slug girls typically lack this vivid colouration.)

Most sea-slug girls possess a toxic immunity as well as being themselves venomous. They present a prominent threat to other venomous creatures (including one another – sea slug girls rarely have many issues with cannibalizing their own kind.) In many cases, sea slug girls actively strengthen their own venom by storing that of other creatures.

Most sea slug girls cannot swim, and instead spend their whole life crawling across the seafloor. Their slime, whilst sticky and viscous enough to seriously hinder prey's movement for a number of hours, makes an ineffective trap for swimming creatures if laid out in a trail. Instead, sea slug girls are capable of spitting globules of slime with tremendous force - if successful, the slime projectiles will hinder a swimming prey enough to cause it to sink. Nonetheless, this requires practice and skill, particularly for catching fast prey. Those unwilling to bother will settle comfortably for a diet composed primarily of sponges and shellfish.

Those that can swim either have specially modified bodies – winglike membranes below the arms, or large flattened areas of the mantle which can be used to propel the sea slug girl through the water. One species of sea slug girl in fact reverses the norm and lives floating at the surface, preying upon all those unfortunate enough to stray into the (usually well-camouflaged) slug-girl’s path.

This all looks pretty good. I don't really see a major problem with it.

About time we had some of these, yes. I see no problem with them

Agreed, these colorful sheilas could fill de oceans with their bright hues!

Very nicely done. Does the free-swimming group include sea angel-based sea slug girls?

Jasconius wrote:

Very nicely done. Does the free-swimming group include sea angel-based sea slug girls?

Sea angels are technically snails, so I'd probably see them working more as a wildly divergent achigate breed

Jasconius wrote:

Very nicely done. Does the free-swimming group include sea angel-based sea slug girls?

Yes - the imaginatively named Angel (extreme left, bottom picture) is one of these.

Slimetoad wrote:

Sea angels are technically snails, so I'd probably see them working more as a wildly divergent achigate breed

Sea angels are generally regarded as sea slugs as far as I'm aware, (you're referring to some sort of vestigal shell I'm assuming?) Either way, it makes more sense just to leave them as sea slug girls, I think. They are predatory after all and would behave more like slug-girls than the herbivorous Achigates. In Felarya that's quite a key difference.

Great job here ^^ Your description is extensive while not being too much so and you give a pretty good idea of what this species would be like.
I'm going to use your description for the entry in the wiki entry if you agree with it ( and to the disclaimer too ! )

My only remark is how their slimes would work underwater ?

I consider this a relatively minor problem.

Sea slug girls would have to live near reefs and such, because those are the main places where you find a lot of fish near the sea floor, where they can be caught. As for slime trails, that's less than effective underwater, due to the fact that things in the water tend to be able to swim over the trails. I'm not sure what

You might want to make them a bit less voracious, due to the fact that they will ahve a hard time catching things near the surface or on the bottom of the sea. In short; they'll starve. Indeed, they're better being omnivorous, considering that there'll be a whole lot of plant life on the bottom of the ocean.

Of course you can use it in the wiki!

Good point. Real sea slugs can't catch prey with slime. I did wonder about that, but then... they're going to be stuck with very boring diets if they can't use their slime to catch prey somehow. xD

There are several species of fishy things which can produce sticky underwater slime, so the concept of slime actually working underwater isn't impossible. Maybe it just won't be as strong or long-lasting.

I've edited the description, what do you think?

I dunno. That slime spitting thing is something reminiscent of archer fish. It feels a bit out of place on a sea slug taur. Not to mention that the slime would probably disperse in the water. before it got to anything.
As far as I can tell, sea slugs are mostly herbivores. I think that sea slug girls should be omnivores; they mostly eat plants on the seafloor, preying on other animals only when the opportunity arises.

I was more going with the slime spitting abilities existent slug girls already have. It definitely wouldn't work long-distance, but I think it can be made possible that they're capable of doing it to prey that are close enough. It is supposed to be a more limited ability than that of their land counterparts.

Omnivorous makes sense - although I have written that their main diet consists of animals which are more or less rooted to the seafloor. Either way, catching "swimmers," would definitely be the exception, rather than their staple.

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I was more going with the slime spitting abilities existent slug girls already have. It definitely wouldn't work long-distance, but I think it can be made possible that they're capable of doing it to prey that are close enough. It is supposed to be a more limited ability than that of their land counterparts.

Hmmm, I dunno. Trying to tack on slug-girl abilities to a creature that is only loosely related doesn't seem right. Just because they kind of fill the same niche as their land-based counterparts doesn't mean they have to have the same abilities.

My anemone-hybrids are essentially underwater Dryads, but they don't have any kind of illusion magic.

You just gotta think outside the box, especially if you're dealing with such an alien setting as the sea. Eating lots of plants makes sense. Crustaceans and shellfish would be on the menu as well (they'd probably just have to bash the latter open with a rock). I imagine the giant sea slug girls would eat the tiny ones, similar to how land-based slug girls are cannibalistic.

There's also the possibility that they could use their poison to help hunt. Maybe piece together a makeshift spear and coat the tip with their poison...and then try to use it to spear any fish that pass by. Lots of ways to go about it.

Undersea creatures tend to get most of their diets from the ocean around them. Fish, crustaceans, plants, etc. The giant hybrids will hunt the smaller ones, but its the ocean... it is vast, and with lots of places to hide, so a hunt is really not guaranteed. Some of the smaller undersea hybrids have their own forms of defense too. Clown Fish mermaids have their actiniae protectors, and my mantis shrimp hybrids (not canon yet, after over a year of positive feedback) have the punching power of a .50cal rifle.

ah no slug girls again! D:

bah, its alright. its a lovely idea

Maybe it could be done so only the species that are capable of swimming are active predators,, since they have the poison and means to go after prey. The rest could just settle down eating whatever is at reach when they crawl

rcs619 wrote:

Hmmm, I dunno. Trying to tack on slug-girl abilities to a creature that is only loosely related doesn't seem right. Just because they kind of fill the same niche as their land-based counterparts doesn't mean they have to have the same abilities.

My anemone-hybrids are essentially underwater Dryads, but they don't have any kind of illusion magic.

It's not quite the same thing. Your Actiniaes are a completely separate family which just happens to fill the same niche. It makes sense for them not to have the same abilities as Dryads.

Sea Slug Girls, on the other hand, are going in as a type of slug girl, and are very much part of the same family. They aren't loosely related as far as Felarya is concerned, and if you want to look at real-life, are at certainly far more related than a sea anenome is to a tree.

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You just gotta think outside the box, especially if you're dealing with such an alien setting as the sea. Eating lots of plants makes sense. Crustaceans and shellfish would be on the menu as well (they'd probably just have to bash the latter open with a rock). I imagine the giant sea slug girls would eat the tiny ones, similar to how land-based slug girls are cannibalistic.

Agreed - all of this is already in there. I haven't specified plants, but I'm not sure if it's necessary. Sponges and shellfish and other seafloor-dwelling creatures are pretty numerous.

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There's also the possibility that they could use their poison to help hunt. Maybe piece together a makeshift spear and coat the tip with their poison...and then try to use it to spear any fish that pass by. Lots of ways to go about it.

Nice idea. I think I'll leave the description as it is for now and see how it goes, though - exploring methods used by individuals can always be done through stories.

Slimetoad wrote:

Maybe it could be done so only the species that are capable of swimming are active predators,, since they have the poison and means to go after prey. The rest could just settle down eating whatever is at reach when they crawl

Yes, I think the swimmers would definitely be more active predators.

added them ^^