Off the Coast Fauna

The rare creatures of the Idalosian oceans, Oscillus, and the Iulure Islands can be found in this compilation.

Brinefish

Credit: Rei

Location: Idalos Oceans

Appearance: The Brinefish is a common deep sea fish with slick and rubbery skin thats colored in drab shades to blend in with rocks and seaweed. They have large mouths that open to reveal needle-like teeth that are sharp and used for shredding the smaller fish they prey upon. They boast sharp spiny barbs on the trunks of their body that they catch up in seaweed to help them blend in with the surroundings. They can grow in lengths from twelve feet to the goliath size of thirty feet. Legends say that the most ancient of the fish can grow to 1,000 lbs if they can avoid a fisherman, but the average weight of this giant fish is usually around 400-600 lbs.

Habitat: The habitat of The Brinefish is mostly deep sea, drifting only towards the surface if the hunt requires them to. They are a common fish and can be found all throughout the Idalos oceans but, as they were aptly named, they are generally found in higher concentrations around the areas traversed by the city of Blackbrine.

Lifespan and Development: The longest lived Brinefish was believed to be 37 arcs old, though the legends of seafarers say that the goliath fish could very possibly live from 50-100 arcs. Male fish become sexually mature at 5-6 arcs of age and female slightly later at 6-7 arcs. They are known to form spawning groups of 100 fish or more when it comes time to lay their clutches. When the fish hatch they are expected to fend for themselves.

Diet: Brinefish are opportunistic hunters and choose to prey on slow moving and bottom feeding species. Crab is one of their main choices to eat, though smaller fish are also on the menu as well. Their needle-like teeth are perfect to shred meat. They make a bloody mess when they eat. They are lazy hunters and you will not find them chasing fast swimming species.

Temperament: Brinefish might be aggressive in their opportunistic hunting, but they are not aggressive towards people or species of fish that are larger than them. That is not to say that they cannot be provoked to self-defense if a person or fish goes after them.

Abilities: The barbs on the fish's sides that catch and tangle up seaweed and conceal them from their prey is their prime ability. The other, being the needle-like teeth, large and perfect for shredding.