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| A male pistrix. |
Unlike the more well-known and common merfolk, pistrix cannot breathe atmospheric oxygen, lacking lungs. They share a number of aesthetic and physiological characteristics with the pacific oarfish (Regalecus glesne), so much so that the other merfolk species themselves often refer to pistrix simply as "oarfish".
They are sadly known as harbingers of bad news and, according to some, even of the apocalypse.
Appearance
Pistrix have a humanoid torso, with two arms, generally slightly longer than a human's, and hands with opposable thumbs, contrasting with a lower body that is extremely
similar to the rear of an oarfish.
Their body is completely devoid of scales.
Adults have a pale silver, ribbon-shaped body from the waist down, laterally compressed and extremely elongated, with a dorsal fin extending the entire length. Their color ranges from pale pink to bright red, passing through orange and rust, although deep scarlet is the most common.
The body often features wavy dark spots, sometimes in the form of dots and sometimes stripes.
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| Typical adult female |
A series of faint horizontal stripes, similar to "grill marks," is evident in some specimens, while absent in others. After death, specimens rapidly lose all color and pattern.
Pistrix have extremely long bodies: the longest specimen ever measured exceeded seventeen meters in length from forehead to the tip (autotomized, therefore without caudal fin) of its body.
Adult pistrix rarely possess a tail, due to the very common autotomy, or voluntary detachment of the last portion of the body (similar to the way lizards shed their tails). For years, it was believed their bodies abruptly ended without a tail fin. Now, the true appearance of these creatures' tails is known: they have a unique "webbed" appearance, reminiscent of a dragon's wing, and, like the dorsal fin, are very vividly colored, generally scarlet red.
Their skin, although scaleless, is densely tuberculatized, especially on the ventral area, where these small, horny protuberances resemble small, sharp-tipped cones and are one of the few defenses these creatures possess against predators.
Color and nutrition
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| A malnourished specimen |
An unbalanced or insufficient diet can cause a pistrix to completely change their appearance. The color of a pistrices' fins and mane is primarily due to natural molecules called carotenoids, such as astaxanthin, which are introduced into their bodies through the consumption of carotenoid-rich animals, primarily krill, which in healthy specimens constitute nearly 90% of their diet.
A specimen that hasn't been able to consume their adequate amount of crustaceans will rapidly lose the color in their fins, but that's not the only side effect: to function in the frigid depths where they live, pistrices must consume fatty foods, such as crustaceans, and limiting this will make the individual much slimmer.
Almost always, a malnourished specimen is unable to maintain their full body length, which requires a constant supply of calories, and will autotomize, losing part of their tail through self-detachment. Specimens with an incomplete diet will therefore have pink fins, rather than carmine red, slimmer bodies, and almost always lack a caudal fin. If the incorrect diet persists, the fin rays can suffer structural damage, becoming droopy, rather than erect.
Behavior
Although their serpentine appearance has inspired legends of these creatures moving on land, pistrix are fully adapted to living in the ocean, at depths of at least 150 meters.
Not only are they unable to crawl on land (unlike their naga cousins, also belonging to the Apocapisces genus), but being forced onto land is a highly traumatic experience for them. Their delicate bodies, lacking the protection of scales, are easily damaged when dragged along the ground, especially given their weight, and they are too compressed laterally to crawl on their bellies.
Furthermore, they cannot breathe on land, unlike merfolks.
If a pistrix manages to survive on dry land for hours, it is only thanks to their extraordinary resistance to low oxygen concentrations, but if they are not re-hydrated with salty water, they still risk dying of dehydration within the first fifty to sixty minutes.
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| Typical adult male |
Diet
Life Cycle
Unlike merfolk, pistrix lay eggs; these are able to float in the water column thanks to a few drops of oil present under their thin, semi-transparent shells.
The eggs hatch into extremely ornate young, with long-rayed fins and small, poorly muscled arms, which only over time take on the "human" appearance of those of adults. Pistrix hatchlings are overall much more fish-like than primate-like, and lack the characteristics that make them anthropomorphic: their eyes are very large and lateral, their hands are tiny and webbed, their torso somewhat flattened laterally, and their gill covers are very prominent.
Reproduction
Pistrix are strictly monogamous and bond with a single partner for life, a characteristic that underpins all their social interactions, their way of life, their hunting, and their raising their young.
Their courtship is lengthy and complex: the choice of a mate begins when the pistrix are still young, and consists of a series of approaches that will ultimately reduce the social group of young to about twenty individuals. Each individual in that group will then be subjected to a test known as the "love knot": a dance in which the two pistrix circle each other, trying not to touch, despite being very close together—an extremely difficult task given their great body length.
During the love knot, the two individuals must demonstrate a strong connection and be able to reliably predict the other's movements. If the two individuals touch each other more than three times during the dance, the courtship has failed, and the two pistrix will attempt to court someone else in their social group until they manage to tie a perfect love knot with one of them.
Their breeding season occurs during the cold months, specifically October, November, and December, and when it arrives, the individuals move, obviously in pairs, to specific locations in the sea known as "hatching grounds".
Hatching grounds are territories considered "neutral" by other merfolk, and therefore uninhabited. However, specific tribes of Maregens may attempt to conquer these territories, which the pistrix consider crucial to their survival, and in these cases, fierce clashes between the species can occur. Defending the hatching grounds is the only circumstance in which pistrix are willing to fight with Maregens in modern times.
Hatching sites often develop around human-made structures, such as weather buoys, abandoned oil rigs, and floating garbage islands, where newborns can hide.
Fertilization in pistrices is external, occurring through the simultaneous release of milt (seminal fluid) and eggs, which are then mixed together to ensure fertilization of each egg and better oxygenation, through an extremely fascinating ritual:
1. The two individuals, the male and the female, arrange themselves in a cross position, with one male vertical and one horizontal. This position is also called the panopticon, due to the fact that it is used not only as a starting position for mating, but also, traditionally, to check for dangers around them, at different distances and depths in the water.
2. The two individuals then close their bodies into a ring, touching their tails with their hands, one around the other, somewhat like the "classic" interlocked wedding ring illustration. This position is also called "the rings," and for pistrices, it is an extremely private and intimate position, performed only by romantic exclusive couples, and only during mating season.
3. In this position, the gametes are released, and will be located at the center of the two rings.
4. The two rings, formed by the bodies of the parents, begin to rotate, creating a water movement that keeps the genetic material within the formation and simultaneously mixes it.
The eggs have different hatching times, depending on the ambient temperature and the amount of oxygen in the water, and can range from 60 to 90 days.
Trivia
- Since pistrix is a Latin word, the plural of pistrix is technically pistrices, but the plural is often left unchanged, simply as pistrix. They can also be called "pistrici", but pistrices is more correct.
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