Fish, Air-Breathing, General

Air-breathing fish, whether ground-dwelling or flying, are equally likely to feathered or furred, slime-coated or scaled; they vary as much as their aquatic cousins.

Ground-dwelling fish often have slick bellies, whether from slime or from polished scales, or a combination of the two. This lets them move quite rapidly, whether they wriggle like snakes, pull themselves along with hook-like claws developed from fin vanes, or propel themselves with flippers as if swimming along the surface.

Textured bellies allow for fast movement by an undulation of their ventral surfaces in millipede-like ripples.

Other ground-fish move by means of stalked suction cups on their bellies; this is especially common among troglodytic populations, but is also found among arboreal fish, both flightless and not.

Spring-tails bounce along like living pogo sticks.

Some land-fish have developed form their fins claw-structures. They dash about on their clusters of jointed stilts as if riding on sets of spiders. Some of these climb quite well.

Amphibian air-breathing fish may have scales or frog or toad-like skin. Many of the moist-skinned amphibian fishes are fossorial creatures, dwelling in leaf-litter, loose earth and shallow burrows and areas of moist vegetation, but drier-skinned varieties may be found in a wide range of habitats; there are even desert fish, some resembling horned toad lizards.

Aerial fish are often equipped with an "airbladder" filled with buoyant gas. An envelope of strong muscles lets the fish squeeze or release this bladder, giving them some buoyancy control. Others incorporate Buoyant Blubber Blastula (which SEE) into their fat for loft. Some flying fish levitate, either by majic or by using a psionic power.

The wings of aerial fish may be well-developed fins or they may have bird-like wings. Commonly, they have bird-like feathers or fine fur overlaying a fin-derived wing structure. Aerial fish that utilize Buoyant Blubber Blastula have their weight neutralized, so they need only filmy fins or wings just for propulsion; they need not supply lift.

SEE Lamprey, Land, from the Monster Manual II for an example. The desert lamprey is similar, but with a tougher, sandpapery skin.

SEE Piranhakeets,Iniopterygian and others.

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