Tajira are a semiaquatic species, travelling from their original island into the ocean and reaching other beaches. They're nomadic, but often keep themselves in a designated territory, of which the size varies. They're a large-sized biped with a long hydrodynamic body, tail, and a mane sprouting from head to tail. Their skin is composed of scales, usually smooth but sometimes keeled or sharp. They have two nostrils on the tip of their nose, needing to resurface to breathe when underwater. They have long necks, which can retract into the body. Their shells are not part of their body, merely an accessory.
Their hands and feet have four clawed fingers, with adhesive pads in their hands helping with grabbing and dexterity. They have a mix of a plantigrade upwards walk and a quadrupedal gallop on land, with more elegant locomotion on water. They are omnivores, with a diet composed primarily of fish, crustaceans and algae, but other food sources can be included.
Physiology Notes
Head
By and large, Tajira heads are long and blunt with small beak protrusions. Longer, shorter and different shapes of head structure are common to see, and sometimes their snouts can be elongated enough to look like nostrils, which aids in reemerging to breathe.
The difference between a blunt snout and elongated snouts.
Eyes & Ears
Tajira eyesight is adapted to underwater, with special lenses adjusted to refraction underwater and more sensitive to violet from yellow, giving their eyes a more spherical format. In land, these lenses retract and leave Tajira with an average vision, though they are somewhat nearsighted. They are sensitive to ultraviolet and consider it a special color. Their eyes can have different shapes and colors, but the effect is purely visual, as their eye membranes work the same regardless of their appearance.
Left: A collection of some eye shapes and patterns found in Tajira. They have prominent eyelashes.
Right: Tajira eyes become enlargened as their eyelids retract when underwater. Commonly called unsettling by other species.
Tajira lack outer ears, but have an ear canal hidden between scales, which can become visible if expanded or manually stretched. While the wavelength range they can hear is on the average with a tendency for lower frequencies, they're great at identifying lower volume sounds without strain.
Mouth
Left: Diagrams of a Tajira mouth, showing teeth retracted and expanded.
Right: Two Tajira fighting, teeth showing.
Tajira have sharp, serrated retractable teeth. Their main function is for combat, puncturing and ripping through the skin, but also serve as a way to quickly kill small prey with a fatal bite. Otherwise, teeth are kept retracted and hard food was torn with the jaw itself or with the use of hands and tools. Their teeth only grow once, the gum closing up once a tooth falls. Modern usage of teeth after the advent of cooking and eating utensils has dropped for Tajira, being an aesthetic thing for most.
They have thick, forked tongues with a rough texture. The forked ends are vestigial, having no function for Tajira and some are born without these ends. Their taste buds lack receptors for saltiness, as most of their diet consisted of extremely salty food that would be unpleasant otherwise. They have better receptors for sweet and umami tastes, particularly sweet. Individuals of other species who enjoy sweet food are often called "Tajira tongued".
Nose
Tajira nostrils are adapted for underwater swimming. They can inhale and hold large amounts of air, before diving in. When resurfacing, they'll expel ingested water and excess salt via sneezing, keeping their internal saline balance intact.
Their olfactory receptors work both in land and underwater, re-calibrating itself due to water physics and how it alters scent. They can smell rain and the concentration of salt in water, which indicates how regularly they should expel salt when resurfacing.
A Tajira sneeze hitting another bystander Tajira.
Body
A small glimpse at the range of Tajira body types.
Tajira size and builds are diverse, with fat, muscle mass and height based on lifestyles and genes. Tajira have a harder time building visible muscles than other species, but muscular individuals still exist. Their proportions stay consistent, with very elongated body parts except for legs and feet, which are stout and arms longer than the torso.
Limbs
Top: Tajira hands with the adhesive pads highlighted
Bottom: Arm position when swimming.
Tajira arms start with their shoulders sprouting from their collarbone right below the neck, reaching all the way to their thighs. Their arms are strong and hypermobile, helping them reach out for items in faraway places and crevices both inland and underwater. When swimming, their arms rest glued to the body to keep a hydrodynamic silhouette. Their hands are long, and their fingers have a claw-like structure with hard keratin. As to make dexterous usage possible, their palms have adhesive pads which are used for precise and nuance positioning of items instead.
They have very short legs and a plantigrade stance. Due to their proportions, the natural position when walking and running is tipping the body forwards, using the tail to balance themselves. Their hips adjust to the motion, keeping the legs perpendicular to the ground. Their run is quadrupedal, using their arms to "push" the lower body forwards, spine curving. They struggle with balance in a bipedal run and will often trip. Their speed is low, only reaching 3.5 km/h and not having great endurance for long distance runs.
Left: A walking Tajira.
Right: Running Tajira, using their arms to fling their body. This running style is more balanced, but still awkward.
Tail
Tajira tails are very long, from only slightly shorter than their torso to almost 50% longer. They are very important for swimming, and Tajira with shorter tails may struggle with movement underwater. There are two classification of tails: whip and flat.
Whip tails have thick bases and thin out at the end, sometimes creating a whip-like look if the size difference is drastic. Despite the name, they have a slight flatness to them, being vertical instead of horizontal. Tajira with whip tails will swim left and right to gain momentum. They can be used as a weapon by cracking their tail into foes.
Flat tails have spread out thickness, with the end being flatter than the base of the tail. Tajira with flat tails will gain momentum by moving up and down, sometimes only moving the tail instead of the entire body.
Whip tail and Flat tail respectively.
Other than swimming, their tails are essential for balance inland, keeping their long body stable when moving. While the specific movements differ depending on the tail, their swimming is otherwise similar: They'll make use of their body shape to gain speed underwater, kicking with their legs and tail to speed up. They have a smooth, fast swim style and can reach 15 km/h on average and 36 km/h in short bursts. They can easily control their direction, reposition themselves and dive in or jump out of water. When tired or resting, many will float belly up or down, keeping their nostrils above water.
Aether
Tajira possess natural Kusho Aether. It is the source of their manes, made out of plant-algae and other flora. They sprout from the dome of the head, following their neck, spine, all the way to their tail. As it made of Aether, these plants have different compositions from real species, and are connected to the Tajira themselves.
The main function of their manes is for camouflage in areas with dense flora and Aether photosynthesis. They will collect Aether in the surrounding area to keep their Aether glands filled and help with other body functions, such as extra energy sources, wound healing and maintaining internal structures. The longer the mane, the better it is at both of these functions, but trimming is required as to not become a hindrance in movement. Modern Tajira style their manes in various ways, as the camouflage benefit is no longer useful and photosynthesis has diminishing returns after a certain mane size.
Left: Range of mane roots (colored in grey).
Right: Examples of mane appearances, with various flora being copied.
Reproduction
The development cycle of a Hanasei, to scale.
Egg
Tajira reproduce sexually and are intersex. They have no breeding months and lay eggs every month, though without insemination these eggs are infertile (also called "empty") and will be sold or eaten to regain nutrients. Tajira can close their reproductive canals, meaning fertile eggs are rare even if they have sexual partners. When reproducing for children, the larger individual will usually be the dam.
An egg will take around 2 months to develop within the dam, and after laid it'll take around 4 months to hatch. The egg comes out in a long, ovoid shape, and after a few hours it expands into it's normal round shape. The shell is rough and sandy, but not very thick. Embryos already have sharp beak protrusions, which help them break the shell.
Hatchling
After hatching, babies are labeled hatchlings. They already have a few skills when born and a degree of independence, being able to walk and swim around, although with less skill than older Tajira. They have the mental intelligence of a 4-year-old.
Their growth both mentally and physically is slow, and Tajira will be considered hatchlings until 15 years old. By their 6th year, their manes will start growing, and they'll start to have proportions similar to adults. Their tails grow faster than they do, leading to awkward walks and growth pains.
Softshell
On their 16th year, hatchlings grow into softshells. Their manes will have expanded, and their tails will slow down growing, allowing the rest of their bodies to catch up. They have the mental intelligence of a pre-teen, and will grow into an adult in 8 more years. They reach their max height at around 23 years old, and adulthood in their 25th year