Average Height: 5'5" - 8'4" (depending on sub-breed)

Average Lifespan: 80 or 160 sols(depending on sub-breed)

Maximum Life Expectancy: 120 or 250 sols (depending on sub-breed)

Time taken to reach maturity: 15-18 or 30-36 sols (depending onsub-breed)

Sensory abilities: Sight, Hearing, Smell, Touch and Taste

Psychic abilities: Quite Rare

Genetic cross reference: Carbon based life form of the primary humanoid band

Physiology: Considering the large number of worlds with water in C69 it was concievable that someone, somewhere, was going to alter basic stock genetics and modify it for watery enviroments. The Merfolk (created but where else, in Lafe) are that alteration and have since their creation grown and prospered into their own race. Though scientists have tinkered with a number of races for this purpose, it is only with the Human and Elayan altered mutants that have gone on to become classfied as their own race.

The Merfolk can be split into two main sub-races. The Homo-Aquatic (those who lay eggs, have permenant fish like tails and can only breath under water) and the Morphius-Aquatic (those who reproduce via sexual intercourse, can turn their tails into legs and can breath both air and water). Both sub-species have simlarities in their biological makeup as well as difference. We shall look at the simalarities first.

Both races when in water are the equivilant length to the height of a Human or an Elayan plus about another foot and a half due to the extra length gained by their tails. This tail starts at about the waist and ends in horizontal fins like that of dolphins. However, their tails are scaled like a fish.

Both sub-species can be further sub-divided into two more sub-races each based upon where their basic stock genetics originated from. The Homo-Aquatic-Utalrius and Morphius-Aquatic-Utalrius are descended from Elayan stock genetics while the Homo-Aquatic-Sapien and the Morphius-Aquatic-Sapien are descended from Human stock. There are also the crossbreed equivilants between the two races of the Elaman (which are known as Homo-Aquatic-Utalpien and Morphius-Aquatic-Utalpien). They appear at first glance to be simalar to their stock races in regards to eye and hair colour, coverage of hair and build. They also age and mature at the same rate as their parent races and old age causes the same effects as well. And yes, the Homo-Aquatic-Utalrius and especially the Morphius-Aquatic-Utalrius are effect by the Elayan Biel-Tal (see the physiological description for Elayans under Alien Races). However, take a look inside these merfolk and one can find they are rather different to Elayans and Humans.

Merfolk breath the water like Humans and Elayans breath air but their internal digestive tracts and respatory systems have been completely reconfigured to accept them being constantly filled with water. Further more, the respatory system is less like a set of lungs and more like a set of internal gills (though there is documentation cases of small colonies of merfolk existing that have external gills, possibly another sub-species that is less recognised).

The digestive tract has also been designed to eat specially grown crops that are just for merfolk (these crops were also originally gene-engineered). Why this was a necessity is not fully understood by most, but it seems Merfolk can only survive on these crops.

Merfolk blood is different to that of Humans and Elayans, if some what more efficient. This has been wired up throughout their bodies in a different manner to what Humans and Elayans blood streams are like. The blood (and in fact, merfolk's whole bodies) are much more capable of handling higher extremes of pressure changes and higher levels of pressure than their parent races (this prevents them getting the bends like Human and Elayan divers do).

Merfolk also have hollow bones like that of Mistelareia but for a different reason. These hollow cavities in the bones are connected to the blood and respatory systems to turn the recieved oxygen and it's waste carbon dioxide into additional buoyance aides for the Merfolk.

Vocalisation for Merfolk is also different in that they communicate via a series of clicks underwater simalar to the natural language of dolphins (and indeed, Merfolk can learn the natural doplhin languages). For the Homo-Aquatics, this is the only way they can communicate. For the Morphius-Aquatics, this one of two ways they can speak, being able to adjust their vocal cords to speak the normal Human and Elayan languages. The merfolks hearing system has also been adapted to be able to hear these clicks better.

Merfolk eyes are keener than their parent races own eyes, able to pick out objects in very low darkness. Unfortunately, a side effect of this keen eye sight is that Merfolk are slightly photo-sensitive, especially in the presence of direct sunlight.

Their skin is also more sensitive as well, as this allows them to pick up by the sense of touch any disturbances in the surrounding water a bit easier. Merfolk have strong tails, being the equivilant of around one and a half times stronger than Human legs. But their torso's however are a little weaker.

Homo-Aquatics are completely bound to the water, only able to surface for about the same amount of time that a Human or Elayan could hold their breath underwater for. The female lays a single egg each sol (for Homo-Aquatic-Sapien) or two sols (for Homo-Aquatic-Utalrius), that measures about 10-15cm across. After wrapping his tail around the egg for an hour, the male will have successfully fertilised the egg which is only capable of being fertilised for a few hours after being laid.

Once fertilised, the egg continues to slowly grow until it is about half a meter across either eight months later (for Homo-Aquatic-Sapien) or sixteen months later (for Homo-Aquatic Utalrius). At this point, the egg hatches and a new Homo-Aquatic is born.

Morphius-Aquatic are not as restricted as their Homo-Aquatic cousins. They can breath air or water through a unqiue collapsable lung system. They possess both the internal gill system and a normal lung respatory lung system. While one is in use, the other tightly folds up and collapses, allowing the other system the space to work. This activates subconciously depending on whether they are in air or water.

As mentioned before, Morphius-Aquatic can speak both in clicks like Homo-Aquatic or in the same manner as Humans and other air breathing races. Again, the adjustments that occur to the vocal cords to allow this to happen dependning once again on which enviroment they currently occupy.

Their digestive tracts are also slightly more efficient, being able to palate normal Human and Elayan dishes though to be properly norished, a Morphius-Aquatic needs to consume the specially gene-engineered food meant for Merfolk on a semi-regular basis.

However, probably the most amazing ability of the Morphius-Aquatic is that they can at will, change their tails into a pair of humanoid legs. Unlike though, their other abilities, this is a concious act which means one minute the Merfolk could be swimming through the seas like the Homo-Aquatics and the next be walking around on land like Humans or Elayans. Once a Morphius-Aquatics legs appear, so does all the the normal genitallia normal to their parent races Morphius-Aquatics reproduce through sexual intercourse in exactly the same way that their parents do, ending in the birth of a child that grows up at a simalar to which ever race their base genetics are from.

Merfolk children, no matter which they are born though, grow up and develop at the same rate and in a simalar way as children do of their parent races, albiet in a different enviroment.

Like their parent races as well, Merfolk organs are fairly simple affairs to be replaced and risk of organ rejection is very low.

History: During the Cyran Dor / Lafe war, the need for more crops became imperative to Lafe as their birthing centres were now spewing out more mutants than their agricultural system could facilitate. Though Lafe had developed underwater crops, the difficulty always lay in gathering them for expensive underwater facilities were needed to maintain these farms.

With this problem in mind, Lafe set out to create a race capable of farming these crops naturally, and thus the Merfolk project was born. The first merfolk to be born were the Homo-Aquatic and their success prompted further research until the developement of the Morphius-Aquatic (this is also satisfied the fact that conversations with Homo-Aquatics were extremely difficult to maintain).

Most merfolk though remained peaceful as the nation grew away from the Cyran Dor war, happy leaving other mutants to do the fighting while they maintain their crops. A fairly passive race at heart, the Merfolk are now as firmly established within the galaxy as a Mutant Race in their own right.

Merfolk within the Nations:

Delta Feareo: Over time, many merfolk sought the way of peace amongst the borders of Delta Feareo.. These days, merfolk continue to act as farmers in Delta Feareo but farmers from deep sea underwater crops on the Delta Feareon agricultual worlds.

Lafe: Their home nation is still teeming with Merfolk under water and unless one is planning a trip to sale under water, one would not normally see this race.

Independant Alliance: Like Delta Feareo, many refugee mutants, fleeing from the Mutant Hunters end up in the Independant Alliance who happily see them in good light to assit them in their plans while their farm the Alliances underwater productions.

Independants: Some merfolk even end up in independant star systems, colonising the seas of independant worlds while other races colonise the land and the ksy.

Merfolk Crossbreeds:

As mentioned previousily, Homo-Aquatic-Sapien and Homo-Aquatic-Utalrius can crossbreed to create an Elaman equivilant of the Merfolk called a Homo-Aquatic-Utalpien. Likewise, Morphius-Aquatic-Sapien and Morphius-Aquatic-Utalrius can crossbreed to produce their Elaman eqiviliant known as Morphius-Aquatic-Utalpien. However, the Morphius-Aquatic sub-species can also crossbreed with any race that Humans and Elayans can, including those two parent races. The resulting child rarely has all of their Morphius-Aquatic parents abilities but do normally at least gain a few (for example, the child may gain the ability to change it's legs into a tail but cannot breath underwater or vice-a-versa).