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PHOCIDS

1. Anatomy

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[PHOCIDS are obligate quadrupeds. In the water they use a tail-fluke driven form of locomotion (in contrast to the arm and leg flippers of selkies, Siren's other lineage of aquatic humans). Because of this they are exceptionally fast and efficient swimmers, cruising at rouhgly 14kmph, with short bursts of speed often exceeding 50kmph. Phocids do not need to visit dry land at all - even giving birth underwater - and occupants of the pelagic villages far from land may go their whole lives without leaving the water. Although the gravity of Siren is weaker than the gravity of Earth, pelagic phocids require a certain degree of training before they can comfortably support themselves on land. Coastal communities, on the other hand, are quite accustomed to it. Their leg position is plantigrade. 

Fig. 1 shows the basic body plan of a typical modern phocid. Most of their thorax is devoted to lung capacity, with a rib cage extending almost to the pelvis. The blubber layer (yellow) varies in thickness depending on diet and ambient sea temperatures. Some equatorial communities may lack this layer entirely in adulthood. Most [pelagic] phocids have only four digits on each foot. Commonly, the fifth digit is lost. Their fingers are of uniform length and rather short, but quite dextrous and capable of performing very complex tasks underwater, moreso than selkies.

Fig. 2 shows a typical side profile (top) and dentition (bottom). Phocids are the most carnivorous of the Sirenina lineages. The polar and pelagic communities commonly lack molars and consume no plant matter at all. The nostrils are very large and can close during a dive. There are no external ear pinnae. 

Fig. 3 shows the maximum colour range for phocid sclerae (top) and irises (bottom). Outside of rare mutations like leucism, phocids cannot have blue eyes. Pigmented sclerae (the "whites" of the eyes) are common among all Sirenians, to varying degrees. This provides additional protection against the sun.

Fig. 4 provides examples of two main 'types' of phocid markings and morphology. Although spots and patches of dark and light skin are the most common, phocids from the [West coast of the] East (top) tend to be sandy-coloured with dark or light-pigmented lines of Blaschko. They are also significantly smaller than Western phocids, being less adapted to deep diving due to the shallower waters in the East. Rounded tail flukes provide slower cruising speeds but are less cumbersome on land. Phocids from the west (bottom) are more pelagic and have a range of strongly contrasting black and white marking types. These act as dazzle camouflage in the open sea, breaking their silhouettes to make it harder for their leviathan enemies to spot them. Cultures in this area emphasise high contrast and clean, graceful shapes as markers of beauty.]

 

2. Regional variations

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Inland 'swamp' type

• Freely articulated legs
• Cultivated macrophyte sun protection

North/"Spire" coastal

• Predominantly brown
• Strong legs
• Blaschko markings

East/"Royal" coastal

• Speckled grey
• Long neck, long hair
• Pointy nose
• Good walkers, no tail drag
• Hair grown long (producing drag) = mark of high class

North "Mid" pelagic

• Large pattern [is a] predator deterrant
• Limbs of pelagics are not freely articulated
• Pelagic "dorsal fin" [is a] pronounced ridge of adipose

South "Spiral" pelagic

• Thin ribbon pattern
• Predominantly dark

Polar pelagic

• Thick ribbon
• Only b+w colour
• Blubber layer is highly structural, less likely to sag, form folds

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Pictured are the six broad phocid biotypes and a size comparison. They are lined up by the point of their shoulder. Any variation between these is possible as they are not separate species, and can all interbreed.

Inland & coastal phocids’ main distinguishing feature is their ability to walk easily on land. They have relatively long limbs and less bulky, more cylindrical tails, with smaller and subtler patterns of speckles and checkers. They can tackle a wide variety of environmental conditions, but struggle to live fully pelagic lives (though it IS possible) as they find swimming to be more of an energy drain than a pelagic phocid would. This means they are unable to cruise fast enough to travel efficiently between underwater population centres, which are often very far apart due to the natural high speed cruise of pelagic phocids and their carnivorous lifestyle requiring huge home ranges.

Fully inland “swamp” phocids are unable to swim in cold or deep water and rarely submerge to such an extent that they are not bearing at least some weight on their legs, as the inland swamps of the western continent are not very deep. They are the rarest type of phocid.

Pelagics live a life entirely underwater, so their body shape is very streamlined, with short legs which are usually joined to the main body below the elbow/knee to reduce drag. Their thick blubber layers are structural and form their dorsal ridges, which have a stabilising effect while cruising at high speed. In cross-section their tails are actually very tall and narrow, rather than uniformly cylindrical. Their large, bold and quite variable skin patterns serve to break up their silhouettes in the water, confusing predators and prey alike. Although outsiders would struggle to tell ribbon-patterned phocids apart, the pattern is unique per individual.

 

3. Evolution and ancestry

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Phocids of Siren: Ancestry and development

The eldest lineage of genetically modified humans on Siren, phocids are deep divers that rarely leave the water. Modern phocids are much larger, longer, and more streamlined than their predecessor generation, capable of diving for up to two and a half hours. They descend from the β-generation phocids, whose body plans were a perfected iteration (though not true descendants) of the one-off α-generation "Aquatic human", the first born human on Siren.

All phocids are anatomically unisex and can live for up to 200 years, if they can survive that long in the harsh seas of Siren. As they do not have fur, clothing is usually worn only on dry land or if any part of the body is to be out of the water for extended periods of time. Otherwise clothing is considered a source of unnecessary drag.

The illustrations here are not to scale; anatomically modern phocids are at least twice as long as their ancestors. 

• The first six designs did not survive past early foetal development, but were instrumental in getting the project off the ground.
• α-generation first aquatic human, Ishmael was a one-of-a-kind design who was incapable of reproduction, so he was not a true ancestor of phocids, though in Sireninan legend he is considered a common ancestor of all people. He was used by the Predecessor humans as a test bed for aquatic lomotion and diet. He grew unpredictable and his final proportions were considered to be undesirable for future generations. His extremely pale skin was a deliberate choice for the same reason most precursor lab animals are white. He was never intended to go outdoors and counter solar radiation. As he aged he developed darker patches which were found to be benign. He reached his adult size in his 30s and by then had been written off as a design failure with unsuitable temperament.
  
  Ishmael rather notoriously hated β-phocids in his early life, wanting to be considered a normal Human rather than one of "those freaks". A fight with Cherta in his late teens ended with the two of them developing a close friendship, and ultimately led to Ishmael understanding that they had all been born into equally subordinate positions beneath genetically-normal humans. The attempt on Cherta's life caused Ishmael to fully turn on his captors and creators. He was a wartime leader during a short but decisive uprising that ended with the phocids sabotaging critical meterology equipment and leaving the human settlement vulnerable to a Sirenian high tide. The settlement was destroyed utterly by this natural disaster.
  
  Modern myths tend to reference a great flood, often called by Ishmael as a supernatural punishment. He is mythologised in many cultures as a vengeful and warlike trickster.
• β-generation phocid, Cherta was born only a few years after Ishmael, part of 20 'first' phocids, their morphology based on Ishmael's but with modifications and improvements recommended by the geneticists after reviewing the data obtained from Ishmael. Unlike Ishmael, the β-phocids could not stand on two legs, but were far more graceful underwater. Cherta was intended to be melanistic, capable of withstanding sunlight, but as all genetic engineering is unpredictable, what resulted was a form of checkerboard abundism following the stripy patterns that some genetically-normal precursor Humans express under UV light. The 20 β-phocids went on to become the ancestors of modern phocids and Cherta became a mythological figure, lending their name to one of Siren's darker and less predictable moons. 
  
  Cherta was the 5th born β-phocid and due to technical faults, their birth was unusually violent. They struggled with debilitating neurological symptoms (including seizures) for the rest of their life, which would have made an aquatic existence dangerous and risky for them. The Predecessors chose to euthanise Cherta rather than "waste resources on them". This judgement was the inciting incident of the first uprising on Siren, and Cherta escaped unscathed. 
• Anatomically modern phocid, Huarvaa (HAR-wa). A typical example of a modern phocid from the Western continent. They are roughly the length of a killer whale. Modern phocids do not grow heir on their bodies, with the exception of their sensitive whiskers and a narrow dorsal strip. Phocids who spend too much time at the surface can cultivate plants in the dorsal strip of hair to act as sun protection, as their bare skin is sensitive to UV radiation when it is dry. Because being at the surface is an indication of laziness in Huarvaa's village, the pruposeful cultivation of plants is counter-culture and all the cool kids do it.
  
  Huarvaa is an exile from their village in the West who lives among shortwing harpies in the East.
  
  Underwater communication is achieved using a language family which is heavily reliant on sharp tongue clicks. Any Sirenien can learn these languages, but those without whiskers might find it hard to interpret underwater.]

4. Gallery



A northern phocid from one of the benthic villages in the middle sea. As the name suggests, benthic villages are built on the seafloor (pelagic villages are tethered, but the buildings float in the middle of the water column). Unlike their pelagic cousins they spend most of their time walking on the seafloor instead of swimming, as their primary foodsource is infauna which needs to be dug up.

To this end they need to weigh themselves down so that they can walk and run effectively on the seafloor (it’s a bit like moonwalking). They achieve this with their high bone density, collapsible ribcage, and ingested gastroliths. These are carved stones (pictured) which are supposed to invoke the feeling of heaviness, so they nearly always depict sleeping phocid figures. The three here depict a parent nursing a child, two lovers cuddling together, and a warrior with a spear sleeping after a hunt. The figures are all sleeping but they also depict a relationship with responsibility which should also feel weighty to the individual; a parent’s responsibility to their child, pairbonded lovers’ responsibility to keep one another safe, and a warrior’s responsibility to defend the village.

The individual in the picture has extensive tattoos on their paler skin. Tattooing is common worldwide in Siren but cannot be done underwater. An underwater village usually has a large communal hall which has enough trapped air to allow people to haul out onto their sleeping and eating platforms, so someone doesn’t even need to leave the sea to get tatted but it is advised that they stay out of the water for the early healing stage otherwise the infections could be catastrophic. Phocid skin is very sensitive to sunlight and desiccation so any extensive scarring can be a risk factor if they do ever happen to leave the sea.

This person also has a very well-developed macrophyte mane, which is common among benthic phocids because the drag caused by the plants woven into their short hair is negligible. Among fast pelagic swimmers in the south, a plant mane is a sign of poor character and laziness. In the north it’s just an extra accessory.

 

 



This individual, missing a tail-tip and unable to swim, has adopted a purely terrestrial lifestyle in Dry Bowl. Nearly every inch of skin has to be covered up, particularly by soaked weeds and a long dampcloak which keeps them from drying out.



A portrait of the same mysterious desert phocid. Judging by the markings I believe they have Spiral ancestry.

 

 



My own companion Huarvaa (right) with their friend Kemi-amv (left) gathering seed pods at the Spire. A polar-Spiral pelagic phocid is an extremely rare sight here at the Spire, and Huarvaa has been the subject of many illsutrations and portraits by local artists wishing to capture such an oddity. This picture accurately represents the size difference between Kemi-amv, a west-coast phocid, and Huarvaa, as well as the variation in limb and fluke anatomy. Kemi-amv wears a vest which shelters them on land from sunlight.

 



Another painting of Huarvaa at the Spire, this time with a selkie companion.