Brine Swimmer

The Brine Swimmer is a semi-large sea scorpion built for a generalist lifestyle, commonly working with other members of their species to forage for food. They are not to be confused with the Brine Worm. On top of being powerful swimmers, these creatures excrete salty acidic gases from their mouths, which they use for self defense and as a means of eating their food.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Brine Swimmers are covered in tough exoskeletal plating with hooks jutting up from the middle of each plate. Their tails have large flukes for propulsion, aided by their paddle-shaped hind limbs. Their heads are large and robust with six glowing navy eyes, positioned right near their scythe-shaped forelimbs.

Biological Traits

Male Brine Swimmers have much larger and sharper mandibles, as well as wider and sharper forelimbs. Females have more blunt mandibles and forelimbs, but they have more pronounced hooks on their backsides for guarding the young.

Genetics and Reproduction

Male members of this species will often start brawls with each other to win over the right to mate, and use their mandibles and forelimbs to do so. They'll aim for each other's heads, attempting to pierce their shoulders from above with their forelimbs, then repeatedly biting them in the head. The one who loses the brawl will be spared his life, but not treated for his injuries. This species' eggs are laid in a tight batch in the ground, and the mother's cluster will cease activity to let her care for them.

Growth Rate & Stages

Baby scorpions will be tightly packed together on the mother's back, nestled beneath the hooks on her shell for protection against threats when foraging. Eventually, when they get big enough, they'll begin to crawl and swim on their own, attempting to gain control over their acidic gas breath as they mature. They'll leave their cluster as soon as they become adults, and begin a long search for a new cluster to join.

Ecology and Habitats

Brine Swimmers dwell in the Fields, always splitting their time from maintaining their territory, and traveling in search of food. They make their territories by gathering with their cluster, and clearing area of any debris such as plants and carcasses. They have been observed favoring wide open flat lands, but occasionally hide in tight crawlspaces in more mountainous terrain.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Brine Swimmers will eat almost anything, ranging from tiny seaweeds, other creatures' eggs, Armidiums, and occasionally certain types of plankton. They tend to chase after their prey in hunting, immobilizing it with their forelimbs and spraying acid over their bodies, dissolving any protective shells. The acidic brine will kill the victim within several seconds, during which the Brine Swimmer will keep it still at all costs. They also spray acid over captured eggs, in order to essentially liquify the innards to make them easier to eat.

Biological Cycle

These scorpions shed their skins a lot, leaving them behind nearly every corner in their habitat. Some even keep their shed skins around to warn others of their territories.

Additional Information

Social Structure

These creatures commonly group together to better protect themselves. Once they become mature, they'll leave their families and live on their own, before eventually joining a cluster of other Brine Swimmers they meet by chance. These clusters seem to only form for protection and not much more, as members of any cluster can be irritable around one another. Though, they will stay on high alert when a mother is raising her young, and they will always work together to catch a prey item, mainly through coordinated chases where they attempt to surround the prey from all sides.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Brine Swimmers normally rely on their six eyes to see their surroundings, and their hearing and smell are rather poor in comparison. 

Scientific Name

Asserimex natare

Lifespan

Unknown

Average Weight

470 lbs

Average Length

9 ft.

Average Physique

Flat

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Dark purple shell, glowing navy eyes

Geographic Distribution

• The Ash Fields

Average Intelligence
Fairly high