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Atrieisan — Anatomy of a Mer.
Published: 2015-05-01 02:52:56 +0000 UTC; Views: 14967; Favourites: 462; Downloads: 382
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Description
A reference guide I've bren working on for Captivity. Overall its just general descriptions for those of u who are curious.I tend to start my stories around a species, then evolve outwards around it.
The concept of different males comes from two different species of animals that exist today. One being a type of cuttlefish and the other a tropical bird known as the ruff bird. My friend found this out and helped design the concepts that make up most of the mermian social structure for Captivity.
Edit: Added larger file for betting viewing.
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Comments: 83
Wow))) So much work put into this))) I love how scientifically thought out it is)))
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Indeed. I've spent about 3 years researching anatomy and biology of different animals to compile a mix of characteristics into something partially believable.
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hay Atrieisan, how bid would you say baby mers are? like a foot or so?
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Depends on their age. The little ones are around a foot to 18 inches, yes. they start growing rapidly around four years or so.
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This is cool in all but I wish it was in HD so I could actually read the info;-;
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ok cool!! was wondering since it wasnt on here.
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I have a question. How do you draw the side to side tail fin in front view? I've been trying for ages but it never looks right.
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Oh I was meaning in like a drawing way. Like how did you draw the tail fin like that I always struggle even when I watch my fish swim.
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I actually studied how fish move in videos, like watch how a shark swims across a reef. I also looked up videos of how crocodiles swam and tool screenshots involving both to get a general idea of what I was looking for. For the most part you'd see his head and shoulders coming at you, and them a flicker of the end tail fin from one side to the other, depending on how long the swing. Their hip fins take up a pretty big view as well, seeing as they are their largest swimming fins.
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This is very helpful. It gives me a better way to draw them! The design seems simple and it's really fun for me to design my own mere! I'm not posting things yet since I'm not sure if I can. Are they open to make oc of cause if so I want to post it. These are so scientific and you treat them like there a a actual rare species. So much better then the little mermaids by a long shot. Your meds have small fine scales for human skin and there more like a pod of whales or herd of lions or elephants. They make animalistic noises but can speak human speech if taught in a long process. And the guppies are so cute! I want to put one in my fish tank and give it shrimp. I just need to figure out how to grab one without the mother see me.
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Or maybe get bullet proof glass and lots of shrimp chips.
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Just bring loads of shrimp and fish scraps 😂
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They actually aren't physically capable of human speech. Danny forced his body into trying to make human sounds by twisting in ways that he shouldn't of, which in the long run hurt him. But they can learn language and the ability to read.
As far as making species go, I enjoy trying to make them as realistic as I can. I referenced quite a few species of existing animals to make this revamp on a mythical creature, using bits from lungfish, crocodiles, and even some species of bird and cuttlefish(these last two has to do with multi types of males).
As for the guppies, be careful. XD The babies develop mentally faster than their size, so that they can analyze their surroundings for threat and still be small enough to escape from danger into the nooks and crannies of the reef. Its also not just momma you have to worry about. At about four months the guppies tend to herd together in a small mini shoal that is watched over by multiple caretakers, be it a few mothers and one or two drakes.
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Hey... Really random question, but can your Mers survive in both freshwater and saltwater environments (euryhaline), or just saltwater (stenohaline)? Or does it depend on species?
Sorry, I was just curious...
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Considering that the mers are technically claasified as lung fish, able to breath air, they can survive in both environments. However they'd be stuck using this method of breathing as their gills cant change to the difference in salinity.
Though while they can survive, they cannot thrive in opposing environments. Some species can switch between both, others only live in one or the other. Danny's breed is a saltwater fish.
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Okay. That's cool. Thanks for answering.
Your Mers are *very* well thought-out, and I must say that this has to be one of the best reference sheets for merpeople on the Internet; it's most certainly one of the most detailed on DeviantART...
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Thanks. I find it a lot of fun to design or redesign a speciea.
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Depends on the species of mer. They do have child bearing hips, so a number of them have live births. Thoigh a few species lay eggs in nests o 2 or 3
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I just have a question, if there is no mammary glands, with the females have breasts? And how they feed their little guppies? I love your history, so I made one account to ask you this. And I have a request, would you do a drawing for me?Waiting for the next chapter here in Brazil!
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I'm debating on removing the breasts all together or if I intend for them to have some other purpose... As for feeding guppies, the young are generally resourceful shortly after birth, many species can already hunt and fend for themselves. As for the Caribbean mers that are in Captivity, their young are capable, but usually reply on their parents to return with kills which are then fought over amongst their siblings.
As for drawings, I'm not actively taking requests. But I'm curious of what you had in mind and I may look into sketching something out in my free time.
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Eu estava pensando em um tipo diferente de mer, uma espécie que vive em águas brasileiras, o projeto em si seria uma menina com o cabelo loiro escuro encaracolado e olhos verdes escuros, a porção de peixe era uma mistura de ambos: um néon e um Gramma Real brasileiro . este tipo seria praticamente uma mistura a outra ao redor ou uma espécie típica do Brasil. obrigado por responder-me e se você não entender alguma coisa me diga, porque eu não sou muito bom em Inglês e usou o tradutor do Google. Seus desenhos são muito bons, eu só estou pedindo para você porque eu não tenho programa de design específico, como SpeedPaint ainda, e você tem experiência neste negócio, eu vou ser muito grato se você me fizer um esboço, obrigado, amo sua história !
I have an idea about the breasts, they could be for beauty or a staus of female fertility , saying if she is able to play or not or to entice males. This is a idea.
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There was an error and the comment came out in Portuguese, sorry here is it in English:I was thinking of a different kind of mer, a species that lives in Brazilian waters, the project itself was a girl with curly dark blond hair and dark green eyes, the fish portion was a mixture of this two: a neon and Gramma Brazilian Real. this kind would be virtually a mixture or the other around a typical species from Brazil. thanks for answering me and if you do not understand something tell me, because I'm not very good at English and used Google translator. His drawings are very good, I'm just asking you because I do not have specific design program, as SpeedPaint yet, and you have experience in this business, I'll be very grateful if you make me a sketch, thank you, love your story!
I have an idea about the breasts, they could be for beauty or a staus of female fertility , saying if she is able to play or not or to entice males. This is just a idea.
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alo 
Are mers in your story have natural predators? Well, the offspring do have predators, of course 
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And humans don't forget the destructor of every species known to man. Humans. I hate being human sometimes. I wish I was a mer or something.
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Sorry for the late reply.
Overall the mers themselves are apex predators, putting them pretty high up on the food chain. Most of their biggest threats are larger predators like great whites or killer whales, but usually upon reaching adulthood the only thing they really have to look out for are other shoals.
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I have a question, is Danny behavior more of a Drake or a Bull if he wasn't a Dark Mer?
Does Sam after turning into a mer have a barb or is venomous?
The Dame protecting her young looks a little like Sam. I love it, the drawing is very great, sometimes I go back to see this, this is one of the most epic reference guide I ever saw. The Phantoms/Dark Mers reminds me of Danny and Clockwork. The mer drawing that appears here are very cute and cool looking, your drawing are perfect, I wish I could draw like you.
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Danny if he was healthy would be a Drake. While he is brave and relatively powerful in the show, he is still gentle and kindhearted in nature, which is a drakes strongest trait.
The picture of the Dame guarding her young is actually Sam XD I added some existing characters into the ref for comparison. Same for the phantom/dark mers being danny and clockwork. So yes, Sam would be poisonous, same for most dames.
and it just takes a little practice. :3
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This is impressive! I love the level of detail you've put into this! Excellent work!
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Thanks! I find that going over the biology of a species is worth while!
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awesome job! I like the way you've put it together all about this species bone structure, anatomy ect. the detail and thought you put into it is great!
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Thanks! I find it's one of my favorite activities to do, reworking and making species for stories more believable. :3
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Wow!? This is amazing. Are you by any chance a student of medience or science because this is very detail work. I'm very impressed, and that doesn't happen often. Keep up the good work.
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I'm not sadly. I took a few years of college with the attempt to major in biology, but sadly college wants more money than most people can afford these days.
Thank you though, I find that most of my stories evolve around anatomy and a species and then branch out from there.
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Gorgeous and informative. I dunno why, but I especially love the skeletal structure.
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Thank you so much Atri for this. I am in love with Captivity, and this is just perfection. Keep up the awesome work.
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I love this.
i love this so much.
I've been reading this over and over now, and I'm obsessing over how freaking awesome this is.
How did you do this?!
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A few months of researching animals i knew with similar anatomy helps me work with a more believable species.
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Amazing! Was it hard to fuse the animals together?
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Not really, as I'm not really fusing anything. I'm studying how a certain anatomy works on a particular animal, and seeing how I can apply it to my own creature. Like how the back of the mer's throat has a pallet that closes when they submerge themselves, much like a crocodile's pallet, it behaves in a similar manner to keep water out of their lungs. I used it in this same sense, but also used the lungs as a makeshift swim bladder, as almost all fish have one to remain buoyant. I also took the concept of the protective eye lenses from crocodiles as well as a few other species. Another one is the different types of males is similar to some species of cuttlefish as well as an exotic bird (The Ruff bird) which have two types of males, one that acts/looks like a female to sneak past the aggressive ones.
It's little things like that, from behavior, to small things that make for figuring out the anatomy of something science fiction to giving it a sense of realism. The sense of realism comes from things we are already familiar with, and just applies them elsewhere.
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