THE
BARSA
FISH |
The Barsa gives its name to
a family of similarly related ocean fish. Like the others, it is a good food
source and much sought after fishermen. Like each member of this family, it
lives in the same kind of environment, has basically the same diet and is a good
food. It differs, as the others do, by body coloring, fin structure and habitat
range.
Appearance.
The Barsa has a tapering, cylindrical body that is just over a fore in length.
The head is narrow with large eyes and a large mouth filled with hundreds of
small pointed canine like teeth. The gill structure has two flaps, one lying
slightly behind the other, and is crescent in shaped. Fan shaped pectoral fins
are located behind the gills with one small triangular pelvic fin located just
below the pectoral fin. Both are a gray in color. The fan shaped anal fin is
located near the tail and is also a dark gray in color. The dorsal fin starts
half way between the forehead and the middle of the back and ends just short of
the tail. This dorsal fin is spiky and tall in a triangular crest about a
palmspan high for the first five or seven ribs. After that it is even with the
ribs spaced closely together and tapers down to about three finger widths near
the tail. The tail is slightly forked and also a dark gray in color. It has
close fitting small scales covering the body that are a iridescent silver color
that lightens to a pale gray belly. The forehead to just behind the eyes is very
dark, almost black in color. It also has dark markings along
its side. These markings are light in immature young and will darken as the fish
matures.
Special Abilities.
The Barsa has no special abilities. It is just an abundant food fish that is one
of many hauled from the sea.
Territory.
The Barsa ranges from the Yanthian Gulf north along the continent of
Sarvonia to the Aelyvian Sea. This fish is
most abundant in the areas that are fed by major rivers. They like the warmth
and nutrients that these rivers bring and the teaming life supported by them.
Because of this, the areas around the mouths of the mighty Mashdai and Liben
rivers have the largest concentrations. Although the Barsa is abundant all along
its range, during the month of the Rising Sun, the Barsa will mass in vast
numbers off the coast near
Carmalad. It is not known
if this is triggered by some occurrence in the Wynein River. All along this
range the Barsa is not found farther than two strals from shore.
Habitat/Behaviour.
The Barsa, like other members of this family, does not swim in huge scuals of
fish like many ocean fish do. Their scual may consist of one hundred to three
hundred fish. It is not believed they are family groups but just groups that
band together for some undetermined reason. It has been observed that often when
two scuals pass each other, members of one or the other will join with the new
group. Every during the month Frozen Rivers all mature Barsa disappear from the
waters of their territory. It is not know what may cause this strange
occurrence, nor where the fish are during this time.
Diet.
The Barsa will feed near the bottom of the sea floor on mostly small fish but
will consume soft shelled crustaceans when available. The immature young will
filter plankton and small invertebrate animals from the water.
Mating.
The female of the Barsa starts laying eggs when she has reached two years of
age. When she is in the southern reaches of her range she will lay thousands of
eggs close to shore in the vegetation. The male will come by and spread clouds
of his seed in among the eggs. The eggs are somewhat protected by this
vegetation and float freely until they hatch a week later. The young will stay
hidden in the vegetation feeding and growing until late summer when they will
emerge and join the others. These young will not move north until a bout a year
of age.
Usages. The Barsa is a good tasting fish and is a staple of many
inns and family meals. It is a white meat although a little dry but its taste
makes up for this. It can be smoked, baked, fried or combined into many
appetizing dishes like others in this family.
Information provided by
Thuja
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