METHANE FISH - traits and information
NEW INFO, last updated 1/8/2021. DO NOT reference the "Field Notes" file from back in 2014 because it is severely OUTDATED! All information about Methanes up to date will be posted here.
Last update: 1/8/2021
Obligatory disclaimer-
DO NOT ever make a methane fish EVER unless you are one of my closest friends that I have given SPECIFIC permission to. I will also make methane fish occasionally , but ONLY for trusted and respected people and close friends.
NOT AN OPEN SPECIES. METHANES ARE MEGA CLOSED. NOT AN OPEN SPECIES. METHANES ARE MEGA CLOSED.
What are Methane Fish?
Methane "Fish" are humanoid-like anthro creatures that live on Titan, the moon of Saturn. Yes, this means they live in the same solar system as humans, which plays a pivotal role in their history. The moon of Titan is covered in lakes of liquid Methane, which is where the creatures live.
Important- despite the fact they are called "fish", they are not true fishes. Methanes are a species of Amphibious Mammals. They live most of their life in water or liquid methane HOWEVER, they do grow body hair, hair on their heads, and the female breasts produce milk. They nurse their young through breastfeeding. Unlike fish, they can also breathe air in addition to water. Just wanted to clear that up- they have many mammalian qualities in addition to fish-like traits. They are a very complex species that has undergone almost 11+ years of development!
Culture
Prior to the human invasions of Titan (see the Siege info in the Timeline of All) the Methanes lived a peaceful life in tribes. Tribes usually consist of extended families and the territory can span as large as an entire lake. Communities thrive on land, where villages are built on the shores of the lake. Communal activities, hunting and other work-related activities occur within the lakes. Methanes hunt for other fish-like creatures and lake-dwelling large animals for meat. They also harvest lake kelps and grasses for food, clothes and materials for building shelters. Homes can be made of grasses, kelps and adobe-style mud. They are a simple people. (Think Native American or Ancient Hawaiian tribes)
Vocalization
Methane tribes communicate through a series of drumming and clicking sounds. The "drumming" comes from vibration in the larynx and trachea within the throat. The methane hearing is excellent, which means they can detect many different pitches and frequencies of sounds. They can also mimic sounds exceptionally well, such at the sound of waves and the sound of streams trickling. They have little language in their actual speak. In fact there is no "established" methane language. Instead, they have more sound based communication.
Methane fish can learn other languages at lightning speed. After the invasion of the humans in the first siege, they learn English, German and Chinese almost immediately.
Basic Anatomy
Methane Fish resemble humans with two arms, two legs and a head, tail sprouting from the base of the spine. They have a plume of hair on top of their heads to protect from the sun. Their traits resemble that of catfish (or carps, zebrafish, goatfish, sturgeon and other whiskered fish) and Viperfish (or anglerfish, as well as other lure-bearing deep-sea fish).
Methanes are a VERY bony fish with mild venom in their flesh, so they cannot be eaten or used for meat in the same way a salmon does. The taste of their flesh is much too bitter and may induce nausea, especially in humans. Due to this fact, methanes do not have any species that prey upon them, thus they are at the top of the food chain.
Methanes have a swim bladder like other fish that help them swim easily. They are negatively buoyant, which means their bodies sink instead of float, when inside a body of water. They are powerful swimmers and use very developed core muscles to breach the surface. They can have a high range of body-types and body-shapes, but most of them are VERY strong.
Barbels
The whiskers that protrude from the face are called Barbels. They resemble the whiskers of a catfish, but many fish besides catfish have barbels. The barbels have tastebuds on them and help the individual search for food and prey in murky waters. Barbels are soft and harmless like noodles. However they are VERY sensitive and you can hurt a Methane if you pull or hit his barbels.
A common body modification, especially among warriors, is to cut the barbels short and place retaining jewelry over the stubs. The jewelry is required because barbels can grow back.
A methane can have NO MORE than 4 pairs of barbels. (8 Whiskers total) and the barbels always come in pairs. Lip barbels are called Maxillary Barbels, and each methane has a pair. Some mutations cause a methane to have double maxillaries. (4 lip whiskers). The chin whiskers are simply called Chin Barbels and each methane also has a pair, but similar to maxillary barbels, some individuals have a mutation of double chin barbels.
Females have a pair of whiskers on the upper part of their face called Nasal Barbels, and only females have them. Females can also have the mutation where their nasal barbels are doubled.
PLEASE REMEMBER that every methane can only have 4 pairs of barbels MAXIMUM, whether they are male or female.
Trait Example: Barbels (Pair number Chin, Pair number Maxillary)
Eyes and Eyesight
Barbels are extremely sensitive, so because of the enhanced feeling in the barbels and skin, a methane's eyesight is rather poor. They can see and interpret the same colors and objects as humans, HOWEVER the eyesight is much blurrier. This can be solved by the help of human-designed eyeglasses.
Despite this, they can actually see better than a human at night AND in the dark depths of deep-sea waters. Their eyes reflect light and appear to glow. When a bright light is shined onto a methane's eyes, it can also reflect similar to a cat's eyes.
The eye color is ALWAYS yellow or golden. It is a trait of all methanes. The retinas also appear to glow like they are giving off their own light. The yellow iris can fill the entire eye OR the white scleroses can be visible, BUT they do NOT have visible pupils.
Ears, Hearing
Ears can be a multitude of lengths, either long or short and they are usually pointed, swept back and ribbed on the inside. Methane fish have EXCELLENT hearing, one of the best in the galaxy. (But not better than Ai, who has the single-most attuned hearing in the universe)
Ears will adjust to deep sea pressure, BUT when a methane resurfaces, the ear has to readjust to pressure on land. This causes the ears to often pop and bleed, however it is not painful to the methane. It is quite normal.
Trait Examples: Ears (long, extra long, short, extra short)
Skin
Methanes are NOT FISH, therefore they do NOT have scales. They have a rough skin. Similar to catfish, this skin is protected by a bit of wet slime that keeps them clean, regulates temperature and keeps out toxins. The methane skin might appear to be damp at all times, and can feel rather wet when you touch it.
Methane fish can mildly taste through their skin due to invisible chemo-receptors on the surface of the skin. When in water or methane, they can also smell through their skin, which helps to locate other individuals of the species as well as prey. They can especially detect blood in the water. Methanes will scent mark their territory with urine or blood so other individuals will know family territories and locations of kelp and other resources.
Most methanes are commonly smooth, but SOME individuals can rarely have an armor variation known as Scutes. Remember that these are NOT scales, but rather more like plate armor that can appear randomly on parts of the body, such as chest, limbs and back. Methane fish born with scutes will usually grow up to be warriors and law enforcement. For more information, look up the skin of the Armored Catfish for reference
Hair
Hair patterns are similar to humans. They grow hair on top of the head, but body hair is also common in areas such as armpits, genitals and facial hair. Narthex dragons have very coarse straw-like hair, but Methane fish have more silky and soft hair. Males and females can have any style of hair and all hair styles are unisex.
Hair and Skin Colorations, Markings, Etc.
Old rules for skin: methanes can only be cool colors- blue, purple, green, aqua etc. THIS IS NOW OBSOLETE.
New rules for skin:
- i took my head out of my ass and Methane fish are now allowed to have more colors. Base color can be ANY color on the spectrum.
- They can have markings of up to TWO additional colors. (Example: a blue methane with red and yellow markings).
- Please do not make a methane with MORE than three (3) colors. I don't want them to be TOO damn sparkle.
- ONE IMPORTANT RESTRICTION- please do not make a methane fish PURELY black or PURELY white. It is ok to use black and white as the markings. However, I don't want to see any methane fish with a black/white base... its just not the aesthetic im going for, sorry.
I will include pictures of this later, but methanes can have markings like stripes, pinstripes, spots, splotches, bars and gradients. Dipped colors are also common. Examples to be provided later...
Trait Examples: Coloration (Base color) with Marking Color (Marking style)
Old rules for hair: it can be white or silver only... THIS IS NOW (semi) OBSOLETE!
New rules for hair:
- I still want the hair to be generally close to white, but theres a bit more freedom. Can be white to dark-grey, but NEVER BLACK HAIR.
- Blonde is also ok.
- Silver is very common, so is platinum
- It can have a color tint if you want, but it should still be close to white. But if you want, you can make it like a light pink, mint or sky color. (Think white but with a tinge of color.)
The tail and the dorsal fin of the Methane Fish are ribbed with hard spines that are rigid and sharp. The spines have a mild venom that can induce fever when you are pricked. They can lay flat, but they will lock in place if the individual is threatened or agitated.
The tail fins have soft membranes ribbed with the spines to hold the shape. The tails are always tipped with a fin that is flat and rudder-like. Works like an oar. It aids in swimming by swishing from side to side. Can have any number of lobes on them to resemble fish-like or shark-like tailfins.
The dorsal fin is the fin on the backside that runs along the spine. It runs from the base of the neck to the base of the tail. It is also made up of membranes ribbed with the rigid spines. The overall shape can be flat, pointed, rounded, notched or spiky. I will provide image examples of this later.
Trait Examples: Dorsal Fin Style (flat, pointed, rounded, notched, spiky) / Tail lobes (number, if applicable + tail fin style)
Tails, Hands, Feet
Tails can be long or short, but are always thick at the base. They are used when swimming, so they are very strong and filled with muscle.
Hands are fully functional and with motor function, like a humans hands. There are five fingers on the hands. The feet are digitigrade and they appear to walk on their toes. There are only four toes on the feet. Both hands and feet are webbed to aid in swimming.
Trait Example: Tail Length (long, medium, short, thick, thin)
Genitals
uhhhhhh skip this if you don't want to read about the NSFW shit.
But methane fish have similar genitals to humans that the males have a penis and the females have a vagina and breasts. The penis and testicles, as well as the vagina on females, are hidden away in a pouch on the crotch area and appear as a simple horizontal slit on the groin.
When aroused, the male can bring his genitals out from the pouch and the female's pouch can retract a bit to show the vagina.
The male's penis has one or multiple soft fins on the shaft that enhance pleasure for both mating partners. The fins are soft, do NOT contain spines, and the membranes are soft (think similar to the flowing fins of a betta fish)
Photophores or "Lures"
All methane fish have a small antenna with a light on their head called a Photophore, also known as a Photolure or simply a "Lure". Both genders use the lure to attract prey, especially in deep waters, similar to an anglerfish. A female's lure is bigger because she also uses it to attract a mate.
Photophores can indicate health or the emotions of a methane fish, especially from the brightness.
- If the lure appears dark or turned off- the methane is probably sick, unconscious, sleeping or dead.
- At normal brightness, the lure appears yellow and softly glows- this means the methane is calm, has regular emotions and he is in equilibrium
- A shinning or glimmering lure that appears very bright or white hot means- the methane is enraged, excited or in love. Also occurs when attracting and consuming prey.
The difference between a molecule of methane and a molecule of water is that methane has 4 atoms of hydrogen and water has 2 atoms of hydrogen. Methane fish require hydrogen to survive. Because water also contains hydrogen, a methane fish can survive in bodies of water, as well as surviving on earth. However, since the composition of water contains less hydrogen, the Methane fish will have a severely shortened lifespan on earth, probably around 200 years or so. A methane fish surviving on methane can live thousands of years or more.
They can breathe through their gills in liquid and through their lungs when on land.
The intake of water and air is drawn in through the mouth and then expelled through the gills in their neck. Yes, this means methanes are essentially mouth-breathers.
Methane fish can have between 3 and 5 gills, with more gills developing throughout the stages of their life.
Breathing and taking in liquids is important. The species will only live where there is liquid water or liquid methane present. They prefer subzero temperatures, but they can adapt to earth-like climates. They HATE hot environments and dry places, especially habitats without large bodies of water present. They can also survive in areas of very high humidity and/or rainfall (such as the amazon rainforest).
Trait example: Gills (Number of Gills)
Teeth
The teeth are long and jagged and there are no flat teeth, straight teeth or molars. This means their diet mainly consists of meat. They are omnivores though, so some plant matter can also be consumed when prey is scarce, but meat is the preferred food source. Methanes try to keep their mouth shut mostly due to politeness among their own culture. The teeth retract when the mouth is shut and extend when the mouth is opened wide.
The jaw can open VERY wide, almost fully hinged open like a door. It can also lock in place. The jaw snaps shut with spring force upon a prey and will kill it using the needle-sharp fangs and pressure force. Prey is swallowed whole if it fits in the gullet. Otherwise, a group of methanes will tear large prey into chunks and then swallow large pieces of flesh.
Reproduction
*cringes at self* Methane Reproduction is very strange, i know... just bare with me....
After choosing his partner, his lifetime mate, the male will follow the female everywhere and they will become mates for life. A couple is very difficult to separate and they will most likely die together if they choose not to reproduce.
If they choose to reproduce, then they will enter a short period of courtship known as "Engagement". The male will provide food and shelter for the female, while also providing nutrients through a series of "love" bites that he gives to her frequently. The mated pair will copulate many times during the period of Engagement.
When the female becomes pregnant, the male dies of starvation because he gave his mate all his food and nutrients and shit. (Don't judge me, I made most of this up when I was like 19 years old and i wrote it shortly after studying anglerfish reproduction)
The female methane carries her offspring to term after a pregnancy that is about 10 earth months long. She gives birth to live young, vaginally, similar to a human. The female can have up to 3 younglings in a litter, but single child births are very common.
If a female or male loses their mate and they die, the surviving partner will NOT find another mate. Instead, they will enter a period of mourning for the rest of their lives. Suicides after the loss of a mate are taboo, but they are still very common
Mutations
Rare extra stuff that can occur in some individuals of methane
- Extra fins- besides the dorsal fin and the tail fin, some might have fins on their limbs, torso
- Extra barbels- besides the maximum 4 pairs, any extra barbels are considered a mutation
- Extra photophores- besides the lure on their head, some methanes might have photoreceptors on their skin, or more lures on other parts of their body.
- Extra colors- more than just the base and 2 marking colors, these methanes have more than 1 base color or more than 3 total colors
- Other tail shapes- besides the normal rudder-like tail
- Eye Color - For anything other than yellow or golden (ultra rare)
- Lure Color - For anything other than yellow or golden (ultra rare)
PLEASE READ
When i was a teenager i used to draw methane fish all different ways, and sometimes I would draw Lakeguts in a Quad/Feral form, and sometimes i would draw him more fish-like in a Lake form. This is no longer allowed, and those forms no longer exist because this was before the story was written (Lake's story: Dead by Dawn). The only cannon form of Methane Fish is the anthropomorphic form described here.
I repeat: QUAD/FERAL and LAKE forms of methane fish are now OBSOLETE, that is all.... thank you
And that's all i have for now.... more stuff will be added later as i see fit.