THE
SCATTERSAND
RAY
("BUTTERFLY
RAY") |
The Scattersand Butterfly Ray is a common inhabitant of the waters found in the inner seas of the Scattersand Shoals. Its appearance, although being mostly like that of a ray, differs from these in that this specimen possesses a carapace like growth on its back, which to observers appears to be butterfly shaped.
Appearance.
These rays grow up to 2
fores and 1
palm-span from antennae
down to the tip of the tail, and has a ‘wingspan’ of 1
ped from tip to tip. These
measurements are averaged, and specimens often vary across the archipelago:
Towards the borders of the isles, where the inland
waters merge with the vast sea, the mantas
have developed to be larger in size, while the ones further inland have become
smaller as to be able to manoeuvre better inland in rivers and streams. As for
its mass, most Butterfly Rays caught by the
Stratanians are around 1
heb.
Its head is merely made up of two slim projections from the main body encasing
eyes which have adapted to large amounts of light, thus making the Butterfly Ray
a day time-hunter. These eyes are small ranging from about 3
grains to a
nailsbreadth. Since these
creatures spend as much time as possibly in bright areas of the
Scattersand Shoals, their eyes
have taken on bright hues such as
yealm beige. The creature’s
brains are expected to be divided into two segments, one in each ‘antennae’.
Inbetween the two antennae facing downwards the ray has a mouth. This small and
only slightly musculated region of the creature is lined with small sharp teeth
which the ray uses to slowly devour small chunks of its prey. This creature
propels itself in the water through the
use of its two flap/wings, on either side. These ‘wings’ allow for rapid
efficient movement in the shallow waters
of the Scattersand Shoals. For
even more efficient navigation this water
creature uses its tail as a rudder. The approximately half a
ped tail however also plays
a role in its hunting habits.
Its overall skin is smooth and slippery and generally of brownish nature, the
shell camouflaging in similar shades. There are exceptions though during mating
season, during which the rays’ skin colour can alter to a more
waterberry blue (males) and
aeruillin red (female).
These colour altering properties though, are very slight and do not always
occur.
The Scattersand Butterfly Ray obtained its name though from its single special
feature, a skeletal outcrop on its back. The ray’s back consists of the same
skin that covers the rest of its body, but has a carapace like exoskeleton on
its back, around which the skin grows. This shell covers the creature from its
neck down to the beginning of what is its tail, spreading wide as far as the
‘wings’ still allowing for their unhindered movement. This carapace is often up
to 3 nailsbreadths thick in
adult specimens. This carapace at first seems to serve for mere protection. The
skeletal formation however serves as a protection and multiplier of the damage
created by the ray onto its prey. The sharp bone outcroppings and corals that
grow over it pierce the animal from the bottom and inflict often lethal damage.
The carapace being made of tough bone, often pierce carapaces and certainly soft
skin of the smaller mammals that come down to the
waters. However at closer inspection it
was found that the carapace offered little sanctuary from the
Stratanian fishing tools. This
skeleton could easily be broken with a hard enough hit. This made many folk
think of the Butterfly Ray as a sorry misfit, created by
Baveras, Goddess of the Sea, only to
serve as food for others. The carapace’s actual purpose was not discovered until
later though: The Scattersand Butterfly Ray uses this exoskeleton for hunting.
Special Abilities.
The Butterfly Ray’s most special feat is its hunting habit. When in search of
food, the rays often journey into more shallow
waters where fish and smaller mammals come down to the
water. The ray’s ‘wings’ and slim body
allow it to move around swiftly and rapidly in shallow
waters where other marine creatures would
be stranded.
The ray swims close to the bottom, using its inconspicuous colouring to
camouflage with the sand beneath it. Unlike most hunters the Butterfly Ray is a
passive hunter: Once it has come close enough to the prey it will settle into
the sand, and simply lay there. The creatures wait patiently for the prey to
move around in the area unaware of the rays’ presence… Until the prey makes the
grave mistake of moving over the ray. Once the unknowing animal has moved over
the camouflaged ray, the predator uses its two ‘wings’ and muscular tail to
force its central body upwards. This is where the purpose of the carapace was
found out.
The rays are omnivores, and often, when killing larger prey such as smaller
mammals, they only eat the softer, easily obtained flesh and then leave the rest
to other predators. Next to this the rays also feed on algae and other sea
plants.
Territory.
The Scattersand Butterfly Ray, as the name implies, resides in the
Scattersand Shoals south of the
Santharian kingdom. Due to its small size
and relatively limited physical strength, the rays can be found commonly in the
waters within the archipelago of the
Scattersand Shoals. They rest and
spend most of their time in shallow costal areas especially the golden beaches
that dot this paradise. They can also be found in swampy lands further inland,
however most specimens were found to be salt-water
creatures. It is common that some of the rays wander off out into the seas but
there they quickly fall prey to larger more apt predators such as the
kaimun as well as the bonehead
fish. As a result there are often clusterings of predators on the outside of
the Scattersand isles, especially
after hatching season, when the younger rays travel out into the deeper
waters between the islands, and often get
lost and wander out into the sea.
Habitat/Behaviour.
As mentioned before the Butterfly Ray is a passive sea creature. It spends most
of its time in shallow water getting
sunshine, and from time to time hunts.
Hunting usually takes place three times a day, during which the rays become
active and can terrorize entire crab colonies. Its movement is often tranquil as
it glides silently through streams. When agitated or threatened though the rays
can show speed and agility, although this is very tiring to the body and may
result in exhaustion and eventual death of the animal if chased for long enough.
Diet.
As mentioned before, the Scattersand Ray feeds most commonly on crabs, but also
insects and reptiles that occasionally wander into shallow
water and fall prey to the ray’s natural
trap. In seasons when feeding on these animals fails the rays resort to eating
algae. Although their hunting technique is highly efficient and successful, the
Butterfly Ray is in the lower ranks of the Scattersand food chain. Many other
predators (including the Stratanians,
until they realized the amount of eatable meat on the ray was too small in
comparison to the effort of breaking them apart) end up devouring these
creatures. This is partially the reason why these rays reproduce and breed in
large numbers.
Mating.
In order to reproduce, the female rays swim up into the shallower areas where
waters are about a
ped and a bit, and there
dig slightly into the soft sand. Waters in
these areas are warmer than further out and also remain with constant
temperatures making excellent conditions for the eggs laid by the female to grow
and finally hatch. The female drops hundreds of eggs since a majority of them
fail to grow to hatching. This is mainly due to
water currents sometimes being strong
enough to sift the sand away laying the eggs bare to the large
waters where conditions are deadly. The
eggs themselves are shell-less and are form of a jelly like substance. Once the
females have placed their eggs, the males swim over the hatching grounds and
fertilize the eggs. The two processes are kept separate though, and it has been
observed that males who move in too soon, while the females are still laying the
eggs, are instantly attacked and often even killed through exhaustion as the
females cluster around the male and know it with their own carapaces. The dead
body of the wrongdoer is then left to float as a warning to other male rays, but
is often devoured by other animals, since most of the ray’s meat is muscular and
nutritious.
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