Wildlife in Vattnafalten
Mammals
Mammals while rare still make up some important wildlife in the Vattnafalten, due to the shallow and hot waters have Cetaceans been unable to establish themselves and the larger niches both of predators and of herbivores are almost universally filled by either reptiles or fish. However some noteworthy exceptions exist in the case of southern walruses that have taken up a position of large bottom feeder that feeds on various shellfish, crustaceans, and burrowing fishes. They are on average much thinner and slightly faster than the walruses of Scandera proper and they tend to make their homes near the countless small islands, rocks, and sandbanks that dots Vattnafalten. However one species in particularly, the southern dwarf walrus have been known to develop itself for life in the thick Korshifi forests that spring up around the sea.
All in all are three species understood to exist; The southern walrus, The Kingly Walrus or High Walrus, and the Dwarf walrus. When one talk about walruses in Vattnafalten is the southern walrus the most commonly imagined one, looking very similar to it's northern counterpart but much slimmer in build, almost lacking the blubber of it's northern cousins entirely.
The Walrus kings are much more similar to their northern cousins but reaching almost titanic proportions and rely almost entirely on their bulk to fend off predators, these large mammals are known to barely ever leave the water and prefer to stay at least partially submerged at all times. Their huge tusks and massive size have also earned them the name "The mammoths of the Sea". That is not the only thing they share with the land mammoths of the north, while not being maneaters as some species they share the waters with are the bulls well known to be quite aggressive during mating season and can easily attack boats which can be a severe dangers to sailors. However despite that does rumours abound of them eating up small children that swim too close persist, however they lack much evidence.
While as stated they don't eat people are they well documented in folklore to be maneters and tyrants, especially "the tale of Ishiashi" records such an instance and tells a tale of a young lad named Ishiashi are selected to be a dinner for just such a beast. He first convinces the walrus to first feed him as that would fatten him up and give him better taste but then challenges the beast to an eating contest. The Walrus agree thinking not high of the chances of a young boy. However while the walrus fattens himself on crabs, lobsters, and shrimp does Ishiashi discreetly pour his food into a bag he has hidden under his clothes. When the walrus say that he cannot eat more do Ishiashi suggest that he merely cut his stomach up and cuts up his own bag under his clothes from which all the shellfish spills out of. The walrus convinced this works does the same and perishes to his injuries.
Lastly are there the dwarf Walrus that is much more serpentine in it's build and much smaller than it's two cousins, designed for quick movement and agile turning abilities is this animal generally seen as a beloved trickster in most southern folklore and hurting them is very often considered a taboo if not outright illegal in most southern realms. Despite that however are they quite rare as they are confined to their forest habitats.
All groups have been known to live in herds, and rely on collective protection from larger predators. However herds varies in size with truly massive ones being common with the southern walrus while the kingly walrus and the dwarf walrus both being known to consist of very small groups of animals, often only a single bull and a few females in the case of the kingly walrus while the dwarf walrus instead lives in smaller herds of several mating pairs.
Reptilians
Reptiles are the true masters of Vattnafalten, while not as large as some of the sea whales of the north and some ocean going sea reptiles can some truly dangerous predatory beasts be found here. Almost every niche in the large meadows are either influenced or held by the reptiles of the oceans and the large reptiles that can be found on the islands that dots the calm and shallow waters. From predatory mega fauna in the form of serpent whales to the smallest swimming sea reptiles and predatory sea serpents that the oceans are famous for can these diverse animals fill almost every role an animal can fill and only the fish of the ocean can truly challenge them for pure numbers but even the largest shark falls short of the predatory serpent whales and even some kinds of sea serpents are known to take out sharks at times.
Turtles
A large number of turtles inhabits not only the islands around Vattnafalten but the seas themselves are also the home of numerous kind of turtles ranging from both herbivores and predatory species. Especially Större vattnafalts skaldpaddan, or the greater vattnafalt turtle is an semi-aquatic salt water snapping turtle known as a very dangerous ambush predator, able to crush the bones of even serpent whales and due to being a highly aggressively territorial species is it known to be quite dangerous for humans and is one of the species that kills the most humans each year in the federation. They are especially known for their long necks and powerful jaws able to hunt in a manner similar to some long necked sea reptiles but they are however still known to be bound to the shallower parts of the region as they cannot swim. While they cannot swim and have a negative buoyancy are they able to transverse the patches of seaweed fields by lunging from the sea bottom with their powerful legs and their impressive lung capacity means that they can be submerged for long periods of time allowing the turtle to walk at the bottom of the sea between islands.
However not all species of turtles are quite as aggressive as the större havsköldpaddan, or the greater sea turtle is a huge species of turtles that also make their home in the region. While being one of the larger species and a herbivorous one can they still withdraw to land and provide quite a fearsome bite that keeps even the larger species of serpent whales at bay. Curious to note however is that these turtles are often followed by not only large groups of fish that can keep the large turtle clean but they are also often followed by a species of sea serpents named "vassal orm" or "vasal serpent" that often follows their liege lords around, while predatory are they also known to leave the fish that is beneficial to it's turtle alone and the species have instead specialised in hunting various kinds of opportunistic predator fish and sea reptiles that while not a lethal threat to the turtle can still cause injury by attacking it's exposed gaps in it's shield that are too large to defend against smaller predators like that.
Beyond these two giants of the sea are the Korshifi forests also the home of several sea turtles as well as predatory snapping turtles that serves as ambush predators. However like most of their kind are these turtles omnivores and they are just as easy to feed on Korshifi fruit as they are to feed on the various kinds of fish, lizards, snakes, and arthropods that make their home in the lush ocean forests.
Sea Reptiles
Lizards
Serpent Whales
Sea Serpents
Sea serpents are very diverse in the meadows, forests, and kelp forests of Vattnafalten, while often venomous are there some exceptions and the rare sea boa is a rare constrictive sea serpent and the largest species one can find. While numerous and very common are these species often rather small compared to most predatory reptiles that lives in Vattnafalten as the larger predatory niches are held by either sea lizards or serpent whales. Only the sea boa is an exception to this and it hunts most of the larger mammals, crabs, and even other sea reptiles. While it is on it's own not particularly dangerous to humans have it been known to attack some boats even if this is still a rare occurrence.
Far mire likely is it for deaths amongst humans to occur when unsuspecting divers and swimmers accidentally swim too close to one of the numerous venomous species of serpents that lives in the vattnafalt and be bitten by the cornered snake that lashes out in panic or stressed serpents accidentally caught by fishers to bite their unwitting captors resulting in fatal injuries.
The serpents of Vattnafalt is very important culturally to the people around the sea as they are very commonly eaten and specialised serpent spears exists for hunting them.
Birds
Thinking races
Spirit creatures
Fish
Arthropods
Arthropods are a huge part of the native echo system and one can find numerous crabs, lobesters, shrimps, sea scorpions, horseshoe crabs, living here. Both in the sea but especially crabs and some kinds of lobsters live both amphibious and entirely terrestrial lives giving birth to several species of land crabs and land lobsters.
Crustaceans
Especially of note of the crustaceans are the dire crabs that are huge hulking beasts almost the size of a man that prowl the ocean floor, they are well noted as scavengers and almost their entire diet consist of them eating dead bodies. Their large claws are quite dangerous and their hardened armour makes them very resilient of attacks from all but the largest serpent whales. Their only natural predator is men, mermaids, some of the larger serpent whales, and of course the dreaded kingly walrus that hunts them by dragging them up on land and crushing them with their bulk.
Giant isopods are also known but they are confirmed to two species, faltagrasugga and platsugga, both filling the role of scavenger species. The Faltgrasugga is the less derived species from it's deep ocean relatives and makes it's home in the flush seagrass fields. However the Platsugga is a more derived species, that has developed into a very flat shape akin to flounders. They make their home in the open sandbank desserts that while uncommon still covers large stretches of territory in Vattnafalten. Here do they spend most of their time burried and only emerges when they can smell dead animals in the water. However this relative open ocean habitat is often very dangerous as they are easy prey when exposed like that.
Besides this can one also find numerous kinds of shrimp, lobsters, and crawdaddies that make their homes in most of the biomes.
Chelicerata
Horseshoe crabs is a common sight as they make their home in almost every biome of the sea often relying on the protection of their shells as they hunt various sea slugs and smaller crustaceans but are in their own turn hunted by several species of fish and almost all walruses.
Sea scorpions are also a common sight serving as ambush predators, either as large scale macro predators that can bring down mid sized sea lizards and serpent whales to smaller predators that focuses mostly on fish. These beasts are mostly only hunted by the walruses that uses their thick mustaches to keep their faces safe from retaliatory strikes or their long tusks to skewer them prior to eating them. However the larger versions are safe from this treatment. They are found in all biomes in vattnafalten and specialised variants exists in the shallow sandbanks, the lush sea grass meadows, and even the dark and murky Korshifi forests. However the forest living species tends to be smaller. Compared to normal land scorpions are these species almost universally known for their saw like forelimbs and more spearlike tails.
