Whitetip Meadow Coeaai

Much like the sharks of Earth, the coeaaien of Eryobis are subject to rather simplistic names. A prime example of this is the whitetip meadow coeaai (Livadiselache leucacrus), a species of toothed coeaai (order Odontocoeaiida) that inhabits the shallow waters along the eastern coast of Hatèmica. As its name suggests, it has a distinctive white tip on its caudal fin that distinguishes it from other meadow coeaaien.

It is a medium sized species, with the largest individuals reaching around 2 meters long and poses little threat to human divers. It feeds mostly on relatively soft bodied animals smaller than itself such as small fish, nienktvissen and llamplelgans as well occasionally scavenging on deceased megafauna.

As is typical for coeaaien, this species also has two large pectoral fins that are permanently oriented upward to function as dual dorsal fins. While these are mostly fixed, they do possess a small degree of mobility and allow coeaaien, such as this species, a surprising amount of maneuverability and makes them able to turn on a dime. Usually slow cruisers, coeaaien can perform quick bursts of speed to catch their prey and their maneuverability and flexibility allows them to strike fast in many directions around them.

A common species around Hatèmica, it can often be found as bycatch in fish markets on the eastern coast of this continent. It is said that the small, but numerous scales of coeaaien make their skin very tough to chew through, but that the meat underneath is quite tasty. The fact that coeaaien do not excrete urine through their skin like sharks do probably makes them a lot more palpable.

While coeaaien such as this species often remind us of the sharks back home and on many colonies, there is one behavioral trait these fish possess that is most unsharklike. Namely their breeding habits. While sharks practice internal fertilization and often give live birth, the method coeaaien use is more like that of most bony fish. They perform a behavior called spawning, where the male and female freely release their gametes into the water. It likely differs per species and location, but whitetip meadow coeaaien have been observed to dig shallow holes in the sediment or make small "nests" in the vegetation for the breeding pair to spawn into. Curiously, it is often the male that stays behind to guard the eggs while the female goes on to mate with another male, only to repeat the process. This makes them seem like quite dedicated parents and indeed, the male will even keep guarding the young after they hatch, but as soon they start growing teeth, which is usually after around a week, the male is just as likely to eat them as guard them.