#adolescents have a few on the chest that are sensors and defensive. they only have a few on the waist however | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

givemewallywestorgivemedeath · 2 years ago

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Some quick sketches of how I think this would look...

Just found out electric eels a) technically aren't eels, they're just fish that look like eels and b) swim in a special way that make them extremely fast swimmers (with average speeds of 62 mph)

So anyway, merperson au where the speedsters are electric eels

#they don't have arms yet... I'm working on it #im thinking they start out tadpole ish and have to rely on large fins to propel them in adolescence #because they don't have enough strength or length to swim the special aerodynamic way eels do yet #then when they hit puberty their tail growth speeds up and their fins get stretched out #the little side fins stay the same size their entire life though. they're only really used in adolescence #no gills because eels breathe via their lungs. this is also why eels can survive out of water for hours #so these guys can slither around land as much as they want as long as their tails don't dry out #their tails are all muscle as adults. flatter than a snake but still snake like. they can 'stand' fairly tall as long as they can balance #and they slither like a snake #as adults they swim sideways through the water. its weird looking but goddamn is it fast #then of course there's the little 'eyes' all over their body. they sense electricity and they glow when they are 'charged'#(ie about to attack)#babies only have one (big one on the chest) and it is sensory only. this helps them sense where their parents are #adolescents have a few on the chest that are sensors and defensive. they only have a few on the waist however #and those ones are only sensory #adults have 'eyes' along the entire length of their tail and all are duel purpose #babies tails and fins are a pale yellow (sand color) as they don't have any defenses and need to blend in #adolescents are bright yellow. neon. this is a warning to stay away.#adults are bright red. in shallow water this is a warning to stay away. in deeper water this is a camouflaging technique for hunting #because red is the first color to 'disapear' in deep water. it shows up as blue. also most fish can't see the color red anyway #teenagers are randomly mixed red and yellow as their adult color haphazardly grows in

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