Nurash
| Nurash | |
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| Fauna | |
| Official Name | Nurash |
| Common Nicknames | Craggy Wrasse, Ugly Rockwife |
| Classification | Fish |
| Habitat | Southwynd |
| Domesticated | No |
| Current Status | Common |
Nurash is a medium to large-sized fish with a brutish appearance whose population keeps to the waters around southern and western Southwynd. Appearing in a range of dark hues and known for their protruding lips, the Nurash is also known for its ability to change gender. This mechanism of biology remains barely understood but matters little to the many regional fisherpeople such as the Ailor and Eronidas out of Ashaven who rely on the fish for bountiful tables every year.
History
The history of the Nurash is rather limited due to its nature as an aquatic form of life in an area of Aloria largely void of major world events or nations. That is not to say it is a total mystery, as it was known to regional groups, from the Ailor to the Fin’ullen to the Vissin, for many years prior to the Cataclysm. Its seasonal migration from deeper waters to the shorelines of Southwynd in the spring and summer for spawning also saw them provide a great bounty to those who knew to look in the right spot, among these being the Eronidas of Ashaven, who relied on them for survival following the death of much of their livestock. This pattern was one of the few to remain fully intact following the Cataclysm, and the Nurash have continued to remain predictable and key to local fishing efforts. Overfishing concerns have grown in recent decades as the local populations of Southwynd expand, and Daendroque and Allar efforts across the ocean grow to meet the needs of their people. Yet, for now, the Nurash remains populous and fruitful in its multiplication.
Physical Appearance
Not entirely pleasant in appearance, the Nurash can grow to up to five feet long, and two feet tall, with a weight between twenty and forty pounds. Considered a species of wrasse, it shares several characteristics with that broader species category, such as notably jutted lips. Their two eyes are considered small but are believed to see excellent in dark water, and they have a sort of furrowed brow due to the position of their eyes, and a built-up of scales above this area. They have two similarly bulky pectoral fins positioned after large gills and a large dorsal fin sits on top of their body that ends shortly before their long, truncated flag-like tail. Nurash color schemes are often described as dull, with hues of dark-brown, dark-gray, and black commonly existing in a range of patterns, with the darker hue existing around the body, and the lighter hue in the fins.
Diversity
Nurash are a unique species, as individuals are capable of changing their gender. This mechanism is not well understood, but makes any assessment of the species’ gender population numbers difficult. The Nurash also has sexual dimorphism, which is strange given its earlier mentioned trait, with some suggesting that a male losing access to food sources and losing weight triggers their transformation into a female, and a female gaining greater mass turns them into a male. This is not widely accepted, but the shedding or gaining of mass as part of the gender change is being investigated. The dimorphism is small, only by several inches to a foot in many cases, with females as the smaller partner. Nurash colorations, as mentioned earlier meanwhile, are fairly dull.
Life Span and Development
Nurash are born from dark-blue roe the size of marbles in clusters of several hundred laid in the coastal areas along the southern and western coastlines of Southwynd by their female-gendered parent. They retreat to the depths after a period of several weeks upon their eventual hatching, where they will dramatically gain size, and become about a foot long. They are considered juvenile at this stage. Once in the deeper parts of the sea, they will continue to grow, not returning for the warm-season migration for a solid two years. Eventually they make the journey with fellow adults, looking to carry on the species. Nurash can live for up to twenty years, but many die well before that. It’s suspected that the Nurash’s diet is what permits it the opportunity to live for so long.
Mental Overview
Nurash are fairly unintelligent animals which ultimately matches their brutish appearance, while also looking downright ugly to most. They swim and seek out small sea life to consume, and can go from eating other fish to invertebrates to even dead animals. Nurash are clever about avoiding larger prey, however. While slower moving, they are adept at navigating a seafloor and are known to dive down and use their broad tail to stir up a cloud of sand and debris, before sharply turning, and bolting in a new direction. They sometimes use this tactic against the divers of Aloria’s sentient Races, to little avail.
Territory and Groupings
Nurash thrive in small schools of between sixty and a hundred individuals, commonly believed to have been formed based on geographic regions of birth, down to certain bays and ridges of rock. As adults, Nurash travel in a cyclical fashion, going into the deeper parts of the sea during the autumn and winter, before making their way back to shallower waters closer to the southern and western coastlines of Southwynd. Spawning takes place across this broad stretch of time, and some females are known to lay as many as three loads of their eggs at different times, perhaps a species mechanism to survive or adapt in the face of repeated fishing in their spawning grounds.
Trivia
- Despite their external appearance, Nurash flesh is free of any imperfections or issues. The animal’s brow and mouth are often removed in any dish creation process though.
- An insult in Southwynd is to claim someone has “Nurash lips” which often implies either a large mouth or a too-small mouth, in addition to an unpleasant smile.
- Nurash occasionally nibble away at ropes located underwater, incorrectly thinking they are some form of sea worm or other creature.
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