[Note:] Around the Brother Isles/central Meridian Sea, a large amount of sea-life is either small serpent (tide snake, scaled gatty/gattysnake, smooth gatty/gattyworm, tooth snake, greenwater snake, bracelet snake, wailing serpent, chasm serpent), eel (needletooth, murk eel, lurkweed eel, pocked eel, slime eel, snouted eel) or crustacean (emperor crab, stone crab, raker crab, assassin crab, colony crab [semi-intelligent and social], sea spider, deep spider, stinging spider, stilted spider, sea scuttler, weed scuttler, sea scorpion). Many tiny fish but only a few species of edible large fish--notably the spiny serin. Cephalopods are almost nonexistent in this area.
In the southern Meridian Sea, though, this balance changes to large serpents, large and small cephalopods of varying intelligence, sea dragons, spiny fish, no eels and only small crustaceans.
No sharks in the western waters, only in the Cyrellean Sea. No sea-dwelling aquatic mammals. Manta rays in the Atharenix. Plated rays and scythefish everywhere. Saltwater slimes--murkslime, glossy lurker, bubbly lurker, abyss lurker, cave lurker, salt lurker, sulfur slime, floating murk, floating sheen, sea rope--and slugs everywhere.
Scythefish. Saltwater. A type of plated ray with a crescent-shaped bony head and a tapered, flexible tail.
Bonejaw. Saltwater. Mottled or tigerstriped tan/brown fish with sharp bony plates in its jaw instead of teeth. Bonejaws range from ~2 feet long to the Greater Bonejaw at ~30 feet long.
Bloodbelly. Freshwater. Named for its ruddy belly-scales and brownish upper scales. Found in the rivers and lakes of Haaraka. About a foot long on average.
Xilachen. Saltwater. Blue-green iridescent spinefish found off the coast of Xiroacer and around the Brother Nations.
Rusty needletooth eel. Saltwater. Long (3-4 feet) rusty-brown eel, with two rows of narrow puncturing teeth in long jaws. Found in the shallower waters of the northern Atharenix Bay, along the coasts of Amandon, Haaraka, and the White Isle.
Raggedfin. Freshwater. Named for its tattered-looking fins, found in the lakes and rivers around the Border Forest. Usually a bit chubby, less than a foot in length.
Quiver. Freshwater. Blue-grey fish, most of its length made up by its eel-like tail. Usually found in lakes and rivers around the Border Forest area and Xiroacer. Nonpoisonous, white-fleshed and about two feet in length.
Knifetail quiver. Saltwater. Seagoing cousin of the common quiver, most often found near the coast of the Meridian Ocean from Xiroacer and Mayorca to the Naza-Zcar Fen Swamp. Differentiated from its freshwater cousin by the white flecks near the gills and the spike on the bottom of the tailfin which gives the fish its name. About 2 1/2 feet long.
Spiny serin. Saltwater. Portly, pearly-grey fish found off the coasts of Ycinth and Graviena and further south. Characterized by spiny scales that can be flared out when threatened. Nonpoisonous, pale grey flesh, about one foot in length.
Serpent eel. Brackish and freshwater. Long (4-5 feet) slender eel with a mottled skin that vaguely replicates the pattern of scales. Short jaws, short sharp teeth, blunt heads. Colors range from greyish-brown to blue-black or olive green. Found in the shallow waters of western Ciri'theen and in the nearby rivers of Hjaltar and Yezad.
Coral tiska. Brackish and saltwater. Tiny (>1 inch) coral-dwelling fish in varying shades of pink, orange, white, teal and blue. A staple food in the diet of eels, sea-snakes and larger fish. Found in eastern Ciri'theen, southern and eastern Atharenix ocean, and along eastern coast of the continent from Cwynaith to the tip of Zhangi-Uru.
Cloud tiska. Saltwater. Slightly larger (~1.5 inches) cousins to the coral tiska, found in varying shades of white, silver, green and blue. Move in massive schools of between three hundred and ten thousand fish. A staple food in the diet of most anything larger than them. Found along the eastern coast from Cwynaith to Zhangi-Uru, with some colonies inside the eastern Cirithen border.
Blue razor crab. Brackish and freshwater. Small blue-shelled crabs covered with sharp-looking (but soft) frills. Found all along the Atharenix coast, throughout Ciri'theen and in the rivers of Hjaltar and Yezad.