Commission for @xochipilli-de-thessaly… A water baby! This small, freshwater mermaid (Picture
Commission for @xochipilli-de-thessaly… A water baby! This small, freshwater mermaid (Pictured: Risofilus paakniwatii) is found in lakes and rivers across the western US. Like their saltwater relatives, they possess a distinctive, eerily humanoid face plate, which can quickly shift between brownish green to a ghostly white. They are capable of waiting motionless for hours, even days, for a prey item to draw near, usually birds. Its pale face may be meant to resemble a dead fish floating belly-up, in order to attract visual scavengers. In order to accentuate its disguise, it has tiny hooks in its back scales to allow filamentous algae to cling to its skin and mask its shape in otherwise clear water. They are also known to vocalize, producing high pitched, bubbly cries that sound a bit like a human child’s laughter. They exact purpose of these cries are unknown, but it may be to warn away other individuals. Many native tribes, including the Paiute, Shoshone, and Washoe, associate the cries with misfortune, or even attribute the creature itself to drownings. Though rarely reaching 3 feet in length, they may indeed be powerful enough to drag down small children, and may bite viciously if stepped on while resting on a muddy lake bottom. They may be little as far as “water monsters” go, but they outlasted the great horned serpents of the Pleistocene, so swimmers beware! -- source link
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#creature design#speculative biology#mermaid#water baby#paakniwat