Blood Eel
The Blood Eel is a parasitic species of aquatic dragon once thought to be an eel, commonly used to treat and cure Dreamer's Disease.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Blood Eel is a serpentine species of dragon in the lindworm family. They are serpent-like dragons lacking limbs aside from a vestigial pair of wings very close to the head with spade tails, a long slender head with extremely flexible jaws, and fleshy whiskers from the lower jaw protruding up and forward. The teeth of a blood eel dragon are known for being extremely sharp and quite durable for their small size, often described as being akin to razor blades. The teeth are protected by rubbery gums and lips that seal the mouth tightly, ensuring nothing can hit, rub, or touch their teeth unless feeding and the eel willingly exposes them. The front teeth and fangs are much longer than the rest of the teeth for piercing flesh.
Blood Eel skeletons show that they still have some fragmentary remains of their legs, although mostly as tiny reduced bones and cartilage free floating, removed from the rest of the skeleton with no muscular structure to support them, unlike their vestigial wings, which although greatly reduced, serve a purpose for communication with other members of their species and some aid in swimming. Their eyes are very small and they have rather poor vision, mostly relying on their sense of touch to find hosts and food. Due to their incredibly flexible bodies and having lost their external limbs, Blood Eels can fit into any crack or crevice as long as they can fit their snout into it, to some degree even compressing their skull if need be. Females tend to be larger and heavier than males, although not by very much.
Blood Eels, although specialized to aquatic environments, still retain their lungs and need to breathe air as most dragonkin do. They can hold their breath for up to an hour, only surfacing to gulp large quantities of air. The species has also been observed swallowing air into their stomachs, which they will then 'regurgitate' and breathe in again to extend their time under water.
They typically belong to the Dimensional Dragonflight and express many traits common to the flight such as monochrome coloration, very little body patterning, and having generally blue, red, or purple eyes, although gray and silver are not entirely unheard of but are almost exclusively found in pet trade morphs. Captive bred individuals tend to be larger than their wild counterparts and fair better with colder conditions, with some morphs focusing exclusively on breeding them for size alone. The 'Super Giant' morph lives up to its name, with Blood Eels of this variant averaging at 5.5 to 7 feet long.
Biological Traits
Unlike nearly every other species of dragon, the Blood Eel lacks the ability to produce flame, instead having specialized in developing their venom and saliva into their primary method of getting prey. As they are a parasite species, the Blood Eel has no need to kill in order to feed, aside from mollusks and shellfish. The venom of a blood eel, along with its saliva, are incredibly potent with numbing enzymes and also enzymes and proteins that break down the cell walls of bacteria. It is thought that this evolved primarily to prevent their hosts from succumbing to Dreamer's Disease and other deadly bacterial infections, to prevent the host's death and the need to relocate.
Genetics and Reproduction
Blood Eels typically mate in early spring as the region they inhabit begins to warm in large pools, lakes, or rivers. They do not have the mating rituals found in most other dragon species, instead mating with as many of their kind as possible to ensure as many offspring as they can. Eggs are laid roughly a month later in soft mud or sand and buried in mounds that the parents will protect. Blood Eel eggs are much more like that of amphibians rather than most other dragons, and while they do retain a hard calcium shell, it is much softer than that of other dragonkin and prone to dehydration. The shells are generally eaten by females after hatching. Much of the egg is taken up by large air sacks, so that the egg has no need to be exposed to air to ensure the embryo has all the oxygen it needs during development.
Curiously, the species is non-aggressive to their own kind, and will collectively guard the eggs of other Blood Eels. They have been known for individuals to adopt the eggs of others and protect them just as fiercely as their own. Each breeding season, a female can be expected to lay between 40 and 130 eggs, although generally only 20 individuals will ever make it to adulthood, being consumed by fish and predatory birds. The larger the female, the more eggs she will lay, with the world record for the most eggs laid by a single Blood Eel belonging to a captive bred female named Lucille, who was a massive 8.6 feet long, and laid 258 eggs, of which 178 hatched and made it to adulthood.
The eggs hatch incredibly quickly, only weeks after having been laid, with small, underdeveloped offspring that quickly seek out hosts such as fish, reptiles, and birds. These offspring can be mistaken as tadpoles or small fish easily, and are often eaten by other animals, creating an abundant food source in its environment. Adults tend to be indifferent to juveniles, not purposefully hunting them or being aggressive unless pressed, although will sometimes consume the host a juvenile is inhabiting.
Blood Eels, although they typically lack patterning, will display regional markers from their birthplace as an indicator of where they were born. Some areas favor spots over stripes, and others no pattern at all. Regions with murkier water with much finer sediment will often have Blood Eels with longer whiskers.
Typically, the Blood Eel will not mate or lay eggs when they have a host, although it sometimes happens, which can cause cysts to form around eggs if they are laid inside the body or around the shells left behind. These cysts can be incredibly painful and prone to rupturing.
Growth Rate & Stages
Blood Eels are slow growing, especially past the juvenile stage. Blood Eels are typically between 2.5 feet and 6 feet long, with their growth drastically slowing once they reach 3 feet until it is hardly noticeable.
Ecology and Habitats
The Blood Eel, when without a host and not in captivity, is found in mostly freshwater aquatic environments and hardly ever ventures onto land. They can be found in marshes, swamps, brackish rivers, and occasionally in deltas when swept out of a river by storms. Their incredible adaptability and hardiness allows them to not only survive but flourish in almost any aquatic area they end up in, and as they typically do not compete with local fauna, even invasive populations are generally welcomed and not seen as a threat to the native ecosystem. Through accidental and sometimes purposeful introduction by people, the Blood Eel can be found world wide wherever it is warm enough for water to be liquid most of the year.
Although they can thrive without a host, the Blood Eel typically seeks out much larger dragons, such as late stage adults and wyrms, as a host for most of the year and sometimes, their entire lives. The Blood Eel will live underneath the dragon's scales, protected from the environment and its predators, feeding on it's host's blood. Occasionally, they will find hosts of other species, but this is quite rare and almost always under the circumstances of a draconic host not being available. Most non-draconic hosts for Blood Eels are typically large fish for newborn and juvenile specimens, or megafauna such as moose, elephants, bison, particularly large elk, or cattle. Occasionally, adult specimens may host in small whales or dolphins that enter brackish or freshwater, and later be found in the open ocean, although the eels rarely survive for long, often being eaten by their host when they release.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Blood Eels feed almost exclusively on the blood of larger creatures, generally dragons and other megafauna. This is done by the Blood Eel biting onto it's host and injecting it with a mix of venom and its saliva which contains numbing agents, and then burrowing under the scales and skin. Once protected and deep enough that the eel cannot be removed by its host or external factors, it will wait until the wound closes, sped up by enzymes in its saliva before it begins to feed on the host's blood supply. This is not a danger to the host, as the Blood Eel does not require a large portion of blood to feed itself, and typically will release when too many of its kind are feeding off the same host.
When without a host, especially in the breeding season, Blood Eels will feed on other creatures mainly to get calcium for egg creation. Typically they will seek out freshwater mollusks such as snails, clams, and bivalves, along with crabs and crayfish, occasionally feeding on the blood of large fish such as carp, pike, gars, and catfish. Underfed blood eels will not hesitate to consume fish whole, however they cannot digest bone or scales easily and will regurgitate them after processing the flesh.
For those being kept in captivity as pets, whose owners do not wish to allow them to feed on their own blood, there are many alternative foods made, most often out of manufactured blood. These can be in liquid, gel, or solid form, giving the animal all the nutrients it needs without additional supplements. Captive individuals are known to be quite picky with their food and may refuse to feed on new kinds of food, even refusing new forms of it from the same brand. Individuals taken from the wild are notoriously hard to switch onto manufactured food and will almost exclusively feed on live blood, although without hosting behavior. It's not recommended to feed captive Blood Eels fish or meat, as they have trouble digesting tough tissues and bones, which when regurgitating them can cause ruptures of their throats and stomachs.
Biological Cycle
In colder climates, Eels will almost always seek out a host for the most brutal portion of the year to shelter themselves from the environment, due to difficulties surviving the cold on its own. They will release in the spring as temperatures begin to rise to mate and protect their eggs.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Blood Eels almost completely lack a social structure, only gathering in groups to mate and protect their eggs. They are indifferent to their own kind and when too many gather on the same host, will abandon it in favor of a new host.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The Blood Eel is often used both by sentient dragons and people alike for its saliva and venom being an incredible antibacterial agent, leading to a symbiotic relationship between multiple species where the eels are specifically raised to feed on people's blood to cure infections and prevent disease. In particular, Dreamer's Disease is especially troubling to treat due to its high amount of strains and variants, and almost exclusively cured by this species' excretions. Due to the venom and saliva's proteins having an incredibly short shelf life, it can only be used properly when one is bitten directly by the animal. Their venom is also often used to help wounds heal faster.
Some variants have been created specifically for the scientific study of them, resulting in colors and patterns not found in the wild population. Often, these variants make their way into the pet trade. Although not domesticated, Blood Eels are rather commonly kept pets in areas rife with Dreamer's Disease and other similar infections. They are also kept by the hobbyist rather commonly due to the ease of care and simple diet. For raising them in captivity, all that is needed is a large aquarium or pond, at minimum 80 gallons, a heater, proper filtration, and a soft mud or sand substrate with areas of cover to hide along with a secure locking lid, as Blood Eels are known to attempt to escape and explore their environment. Proper enrichment is needed, as Blood Eels can quickly grow bored with no stimuli and will attempt to escape their tanks. Puzzle toys, mirrors, feeder toys, and bird toys are quite common.
Feeding them is done easily and they will not attempt to host in smaller races, only leaving behind a bite mark that heals quickly and often leaves little to no scar behind.
Facial characteristics
This species has a thin, spade like, elongated head ideal for burrowing into the hide of larger creatures.
Average Intelligence
Non sentient, but highly intelligent, the Blood Eel can display extreme capabilities in problem solving, learning new behaviors, and an extremely basic understanding of symbols and language. They do not display committed group or society behavior, as they are typically indifferent to their own kind outside of the mating season. Blood eels have great spatial understanding and display incredible intelligence when selecting a host, avoiding those that are too small to support them long term, only choosing hosts that they will have no ill effects upon.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The species makes great use of their latent abilities to spatial magic, making them solid and uncontested members of the Dimensional Dragonflight. Primarily, Blood Eels use these abilities to gauge their surroundings and the availability of prey, although some using minor teleportation or to allow themselves to fit into spaces they wouldn't normally fit is not uncommon.
The Blood Eel also is well known for using its whisker-like barbells to aid in finding prey and avoiding predators by sensing movement in the water column from fish and shellfish, herons and cranes, or even other Blood Eels. In the wild, they have been known to use these whiskers to sift through sand and sediment when searching for mollusks in particular, stirring up the substrate to expose their prey during the breeding season. Their vision is rather poor, and thought that at most, a blood eel can see blurry shapes and colors.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
Draconis draconis sanguisugae
Conservation Status
Unknown, presumed least concern
Average Length
2.5 to 6 feet
Average Physique
Blood eels are typically slender with little body fat, as they often rely on a host to regulate their body temperature for them, making them susceptible to the cold. Overweight Blood Eels are extremely rare, almost always the result of overfeeding in captivity, or feeding off of mammalian hosts too long or too often.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Almost exclusively monochrome gray, black, white, or diluted browns in the wild with minimal black or white patterning. Pet trade variants are often black, white, or gray with more patterning.
Geographic Distribution
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