Leviathan Mermaids (and other Merfolk)

Zoekin wrote:

Estuarine Mermaids now on the wikki! I made it!

Congrats!

How do you do for your ideas to get so fast on the wiki? Do you hack?

Zoekin wrote:

Estuarine Mermaids now on the wikki! I made it!

I wait a bit for sea nagas
and for mudskipper I admit I have trouble to visualize them.. are they moving in land somehow ? ^^;

Karbo wrote:

Zoekin wrote:

Estuarine Mermaids now on the wikki! I made it!

I wait a bit for sea nagas
and for mudskipper I admit I have trouble to visualize them.. are they moving in land somehow ? ^^;

Mudskipper Mermaids are formed like Mudskipper fish below the waist with broad pectoral fins and a strong tail fin that drives them across the mudflats at great speed. So they can slide across mud much faster than a man can run by propelling themselves with their tail fin and holding their upper body erect with their pectoral fins. (Sorry! I watch a lot of nature documentories ^^ .This is the "skipping" motion that gives them their name. They aren't great swimmers but are masters of the tidal regions like mangrove swamps. Only the Giant Crocodiles give them any cause for worry-and the one naga that feeds on them.
So strong are these pectoral fins that they can use them to cling to objects like tree trunks and even climb a little.

Hope that helps a little.

Katrika-"And Sean-no Zoekin DOESN'T hack the wikki! That would make Anna and Crisis mad! That's the last thing in the world Zoekin wants to do!"

I really don't get the mudskippers. The image I picture is actually a Mermaid on land, far from all source of water, skidding on mud. I think what you want to create is a mermaid that lives in huge, muddy puddles, and can skid on land by spraying mud on it.

Quote :

I really don't get the mudskippers. The image I
picture is actually a Mermaid on land, far from all source of water,
skidding on mud. I think what you want to create is a mermaid that
lives in huge, muddy puddles, and can skid on land by spraying mud on
it.

The first image is the right one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt6c2nr6FfE

That should help anyone who hasn't ever seen a real mudskipper before. Note how they swim like fish, but on land they wriggle around to move. They can even use their tails to jump surprising distances. If you could imagine one with a human half, but still following those movement patterns you could have a very unique species. Though it wasn't shown in the movie, sometimes real mudskippers will remain partially buried in the soil and will perform surprise attacks on whatever prey comes too close.

Sean Okotami wrote:

I really don't get the mudskippers. The image I picture is actually a Mermaid on land, far from all source of water, skidding on mud. I think what you want to create is a mermaid that lives in huge, muddy puddles, and can skid on land by spraying mud on it.

Thats the image you picture yes but it isn't what Zoekin's mudskippers are, and I think what Zoekin wants to create is already explained in pretty good detail.

I don't get it. I see pretty much a small mermaid, except this one is more agile on land. A real mudskippers already have a pair of legs and can breathe on land. Mermaids got hands, and can breathe on land. Only difference is the the mudskipper has stronger arms that allows them to move on land better than their cousins. I'm sure that's not what you are picturing, but I just don't get it. I'm dead confused

Quote :

I don't get it. I see pretty much a small
mermaid, except this one is more agile on land. A real mudskippers
already have a pair of legs and can breathe on land. Mermaids got
hands, and can breathe on land. Only difference is the the mudskipper
has stronger arms that allows them to move on land better than their
cousins. I'm sure that's not what you are picturing, but I just don't
get it. I'm dead confused

What's not to get?
It's a mermaid with a strong tail and strong pectoral fins at the waist.

Sim-ple.

Still don't get it. Unless they are mermaids that live in swamp water.

Ohh thank you for the link, it makes things a lot clearer for me ^_^

Mhh I think this is a great idea ! I can even imagine a species ( well not really a mermaid any more ^^ ; ) living with no water in sandfalle maze where sand replace water

Zoekin wrote:

Mudskipper Mermaids are formed like Mudskipper fish below the waist with broad pectoral fins and a strong tail fin that drives them across the mudflats at great speed. So they can slide across mud much faster than a man can run by propelling themselves with their tail fin and holding their upper body erect with their pectoral fins. (Sorry! I watch a lot of nature documentories ^^ .This is the "skipping" motion that gives them their name. They aren't great swimmers but are masters of the tidal regions like mangrove swamps. Only the Giant Crocodiles give them any cause for worry-and the one naga that feeds on them.
So strong are these pectoral fins that they can use them to cling to objects like tree trunks and even climb a little.

I was thinking about the concept of the Mudskipper Mermaids contrary to the Mudskipper fish I think they are good swimmer because some mermaids can haul themselves to increase their reach, so I think somes Mermaids developp an ability to slide a cross the ground to increase their the fish

Thanks for all the interest and especially for the video link! Helps a lot to get my idea across . I really like mangroves and the fasinating species that live there.

I'm sorry for any confusion I may have caused.

I'm toying with the idea of Lungfish Mermaids. Now I realise all mermaids breathe air. What I mean is a mermaid who lives somewhere with temporary water and spends the dry periods encasesd in a cocoon buried in the lake or river bed. That would be a nasty suprise to someone when the rains filled up the waterway again!!!

Zoekin wrote:

Estuarine Mermaids now on the wikki! I made it!

Congrats Zoekin

Another idea I had concerning the Leviathans was for a "Cookiecutter Mermaid."

For those not in the know a Cookiecutter shark is a small shark that lives in deep water and asends miles vertically to feed on larger fish, whales and submarines by stealing bites out of them. Nasty things.

What I worry about is are they really suitable for Felarya. They would feed mostly by "hard-vore" (of sorts.) I like the idea of Leviathans having a predator like that though.

Yabla'un (اليبلعون)
Habitat: Topazial Sea Deeps
Length: 30-45 ft
Weight: 500 lbs

The Yabla'un are possibly one of the most bizarre of Felarya's species. What has been learned about them has come deep-ocean observations as well as the captive study of a single specimen. However, this specimen escaped in a disastrous chain of events, and has never been recovered.

Yabla'un live in the lowest depths of the Topazial Sea, and are rarely seen above depths of 2500 ft, and are more commonly known to live at a mile deep or lower. Their bodies are thus designed to accommodate immense amounts of water pressure and function in absolute darkness. Their scales are tough, like plate mail, while their humanoid half's skin is hard and leather-like. Two long antennae extend from their forehead, the ends of which glow to illuminate the area in front of them. Yabla'uni are, thus, the only light source at this depth, usually for miles.

Strangest of all, though, are their many limbs. Their upper bodies have four arms, the second pair joining the first at the shoulders and extending back, folding up behind the head. In addition, two prehensile tentacles extend from the sides of their tail, just below the hip, each around 20 feet long. This gives the Yabla'uni a considerable range of attack. Which fits perfectly into their method of hunting: dimming their lights to sneak up on a prey, and then grabbing it from a distance.

A Yabla'uni skeleton is comprised completely of cartilage, which both assists them in surviving the pressure of the deep and allows them to swallow human-sized creatures whole. They are able to maintain a ridged body shape, but the flexibility of their skeleton allows it to bend instead of shatter under pressure. When eating, powerful throat muscles will pull the victim in once brought into the mouth, sucking them down to the stomach with a strength that is almost impossible for a creature that size to resist. Their stomach acids are extremely strong, capable of breaking down flesh, bone, as well as man-made materials such as armor into a noxious chemical stew. Worst of all, this digestive process is slow, often taking hours to break down a small creature, or even as much as a day or two for a human being!

The deep, in addition to making the Yabla'uni strange-looking, also deprives them of many of the senses creatures further above posses. They have no sense of smell or taste, and lack the ability to see color at all. They can, however, see in infrared, assisting them in picking out their prey from the cold background of the sea. There is some evidence that Yabla'un communicate by song, just as other species of merfolk do. However, so little of their singing has been recorded that next to nothing is known about the socialization and mating of this species.

Yabla'un are extremely dangerous, and while the chances that a human will encounter them in their natural habitat are next to impossible, it is worth noting that the only known encounter between a Yabla'un and a lone human being ended with the human being devoured and the Yabla'un escaping. Avoiding these creatures is advised, and anyone unfortunate enough to encounter one should run (or swim, rather) very quickly in the opposite direction!

~

Zoekin: I don't think the idea is that far outside the bounds of what is preferred... In order to make any sort of dent in a Leviathan, a Cookiecutter would have to probably be at least 2-4x the size of a human being-- 20 feet, at the least. A whole school of creatures that size would be a potential hazard for a large mermaid, while a single one could potentially swallow a human or faery whole. So I think it might be okay.

Thank you for the advice.
I must admit the idea of Cookiecutter Mermaids tearing bites from your Leviathans makes me feel a little queasy.
It would be a VERY dangerous way to get a meal too! Imagine what being hit by a Leviathans tail would feel like!!

Well, according to gwadahunter2222, something as big as the Leviathan Mermaids can't have a natural predator. I'm not sure, but they would become too active and create too much chaos given their humongous size.


For something completely unrelated, I made a new species of mermaids. Those ones are based on the ever lovable dolphins.

Squirt Mermaids
Size: ranging from 30 to 60 feet in lenght
Threat: Low

Squirt Mermaids aren't the biggest, nor the smallest of mermaids, but they are the most playful. Their fish half is that of a dolphin. They tend to flop on the water and make accrobatic for entertainment. They are friendly to humans, and only eats them if they are hostile toward them, it's only self defense. Their names comes from their habit to squirt water with lots of precision. They possess a second stomach running along their tail, which can store only water. They used the stored water to squirt on their preys, or to play jokes on people. They can, however, adjust the pressure of the squirt, turning it into a potential weapon. They can also release all the water at once, effectively turning it into an hydro-bombshell. They are known to help humans who shipwrecks from time to time, but that happens rarely. Recently, there's a squirt mermaid who moved to the Jewel River and spends time with Anko there. There's even a rumor that she acts as Anko's replacement when she isn't guarding the bridge.

That little one was my mermaid, her name's Betty, and she would love to play with Aleski.

MukatKiKaarn wrote:

Yabla'un

...

Length: 30-45 ft
Weight: 500 lbs

...

They can, however, see in infrared, assisting them in picking out their prey from the cold background of the sea...

I have two "problems" with this creature, both pretty minor. The first one is it's weight, which seems unreasonably small to me for a creature that long unless it's very skinny or mostly hollow (and that hollow area is filled with water). Some simple calculations show that something of that weight and length would have a diameter of roughly 4 or 5 inches.

The other problem is their ability to see infrared light. It seems unlikely to me that a sea creature would develop/evolve such an ability, for two reasons. Firstly, water is a very good absorber of infrared light and so the distance infrared light travels through water is very limited, meaning that prey a very short distance away from the Yabla'un would be invisible to its sight. The second problem I have with it is that most sea creatures are cold blooded, which means that they are very close to background temperature and don't emit much more in the way of infrared rays than the water surrounding them does.

Oldman40k2003 wrote:

MukatKiKaarn wrote:

Yabla'un

...

Length: 30-45 ft
Weight: 500 lbs

...

They can, however, see in infrared, assisting them in picking out their prey from the cold background of the sea...

I have two "problems" with this creature, both pretty minor. The first one is it's weight, which seems unreasonably small to me for a creature that long unless it's very skinny or mostly hollow (and that hollow area is filled with water). Some simple calculations show that something of that weight and length would have a diameter of roughly 4 or 5 inches.

The other problem is their ability to see infrared light. It seems unlikely to me that a sea creature would develop/evolve such an ability, for two reasons. Firstly, water is a very good absorber of infrared light and so the distance infrared light travels through water is very limited, meaning that prey a very short distance away from the Yabla'un would be invisible to its sight. The second problem I have with it is that most sea creatures are cold blooded, which means that they are very close to background temperature and don't emit much more in the way of infrared rays than the water surrounding them does.

I see what you mean about the infrared vision. I had wondered if there wouldn't be enough difference in temperature, but missed completely that water wouldn't really transmit infrared light far. Which I should have, since water does tend to absorb most any sort of radiation extremely well.

Maybe some sort of echolocation instead? I see less problems with that, now that I think of it, than infrared. Plus, it's less dependent on sight and more on hearing-- I've already established their vision is poor, so I'd imagine they have excellent hearing to make up for the fact.

As for the weight... ouch. Yeah, that won't do. Maybe a figure closer to a couple of tons?

Vibration, or sound is more efficient in water. By the way Mukat, how do you like my idea of Squirt Mermaid?

MukatKiKaarn wrote:

Maybe some sort of echolocation instead?
...
As for the weight... ouch. Yeah, that won't do. Maybe a figure closer to a couple of tons?

Echolocation would do just fine. Water transmits sound much better than it does light, although it's not too terrible at transmitting light when compared to air and adjusted for density. Sea mammals that use echolocation tend to have a "melon" (fat filled organ that appears to modulate sound) in their bodies, perhaps a large version of this organ could be used to fill up some of their length?

As for their weight, it all depends on how big around you want them to be. Approximating them as cylinders and given two values R and L, with R being the radius of their torso in feet (and so half their total width) and L being their length, also in feet, then the formula 124.85 * PI * R^2 * L will give their weight in lbs. This formula assumes that they neither sink nor float in the water and so have a density very near that of water. Using this formula and the approximate radius of the human torso (0.75 feet) I get their weight to be between 3.3 and 4.9 short tons (6600 - 9800 lbs)

I once faced a similar problem with a naga character I was writing a story about. I wanted her to be around 700 lbs, so that she could be drug around by a human if she were unconscious (well, at least by a strong human), but under those weight limits and at a length that was aesthetically pleasing she was very skinny. I "solved" the problem by giving her two big lungs that ran the length of her snake half, which increased the radius without increasing weight. This extra empty volume would probably "crush" if she went into the water, making her look funny.

And of course, you can always hand wave it away.

Oldman40k2003 wrote:

Echolocation would do just fine...Sea mammals that use echolocation tend to have a "melon" (fat filled organ that appears to modulate sound) in their bodies, perhaps a large version of this organ could be used to fill up some of their length?

As for their weight, it all depends on how big around you want them to be. Approximating them as cylinders and given two values R and L, with R being the radius of their torso in feet (and so half their total width) and L being their length, also in feet, then the formula 124.85 * PI * R^2 * L will give their weight in lbs. This formula assumes that they neither sink nor float in the water and so have a density very near that of water. Using this formula and the approximate radius of the human torso (0.75 feet) I get their weight to be between 3.3 and 4.9 short tons (6600 - 9800 lbs)

I'd rather not handwave it away if I can help it... I like to try and have the character designs have a reason to them. I'm not very good with following that sometimes, but I try.

The melon could probably occupy some of the space in the chest, either in front of the lungs or below them, filling up part of the abdomen and pushing the organs that would normally fill that cavity down into the tail, where stuff like the intestines can stretch out instead of being completely coiled up.

Hey, that formula's really nice! I never even thought of applying anything like that... that weight's about what I figured after you pointed it out, but I wasn't completely sure. I'll go back and make some edits to the profile. ^^ Thanks a ton for everything.

SilentEric suggested to me that there could be a type of tiny mermiad subsituting for zooplankton.
I like the idea of a mermaid evquivilent of Ravana3k's "Tom Thumb" race. Bit like sardines.