Siaalesen

The siaalasen make up the only fully aquatic intelligent species in known space. Achieving this feat, however, required eventually developing the natural means to function on land, albeit not without certain limitations. They can only last about half of a day before needing to return to water, sooner in dry conditions. This limitation can be avoided with personal water breathing systems, but dry conditions can still dry out their hides and force them back into water.
The species is fully alien in origin, but their closest likeness is to Earth sharks.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Siaalesen have the same four limbs as other bipedal creatures, but in order to maintain their swimming capabilities, they developed unusually large tails. Thick, long, and muscular, these tails allow them to paddle through the water at exceptional speed. Their swimming abilities are further augmented by their webbed feet and fingers, fins on their arms, and their dorsal fins. Their ears are long and pointed. 
Their hides are rough or smooth, and may vary from individual, though this roughness is often smoothed out with regular skin treatment. They have what may look like black 'freckles' on their snouts, but are in fact ampulae. Nictating membranes for their eyes allow them to better maintain moisture in their eyes when out of water, as well as protection from particles in the water.
Their long history of building very close to goethermal vents in the water has made their skin extremely resilient to hot water, to the point of being able to tolerate boiling water for up to a minute before significant damage occurs.
Approximately a quarter of the species have bioluminescent streaks or spots across their bodies. The bioluminescence is controllable all across their bodies, allowing it to function as a form of communication at dark depths. 
They have multiple rows of teeth, up to five in some individuals. Three is the average.

Biological Traits

Siaalesen may vary widely in physical appearance, but have little variation in physical form. At most, those that have a family history of deep depths, or frequent expeditions onto land, may have mower powerful forms.
Skin color varies widely, with yellow, blue, orange, pink, grey, white, black, teal, brown. Patterning may be stripes, spots, or unpatterned. Colors and patterns are genetic, meaning families and communities appear more homogeneous than one may expect from such a gamut of potential colors and patterns.
Bioluminescence is one of the most striking traits of the species, and can be found in approximately a quarter of siaalesen. It can appear as stripes, spots, streaks, and sometimes, illuminating the eyes. Blue is the most common, followed by purple and green. A golden yellow is rare, and extremely rare is red.

Genetics and Reproduction

The siaalasen are among the few aquatic mammals of their home world, and will give birth to typically a single child after a fourteen month gestation period. The child will be born with a disproportionately large tail that would grant it the ability to effectively swim. Its limbs will be small and weak for ease of birth, and will begin regular growth shortly after birth.

Growth Rate & Stages

A newborn siaalasen is known as a siaalya, and beyond patterning on its hide, bears little semblance to an adult. The limbs and fins are small and weak, but its tail is large and strong enough for it to swim and begin hunting its own food within weeks after birth. It looks more akin to a fish at this stage, with powerful toothed jaws. The limbs will begin to pull from the child’s body and begin assisting in movement within the first few months, but will not be ready for effective terrestrial use until approximately five years of age, when the bones will have fully formed, and the full bipedal shape is complete. They will continue to physically grow until around twenty-three years of age.

Ecology and Habitats

Siaalesen, naturally, need water immersion for long term survival. This water can be saltwater or freshwater. They are capable of tolerating depths up to around three thousand meters. They can tolerate near freezing temperatures, but the extensive geothermal activity on their homeworld has made them strongly prefer warmer waters, and their tolerance for warm or even hot water is far greater.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Siaalesen have a strong preference toward meats, but may consume plant matter and algae if no other options are available. They only need to eat one meal a day when under water, but being out of water often will require a higher calorie intake.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Due to young requireing a fully aquatic life for their first five years, every siaalasen settlement, city, nation, or colony is founded upon water, and terrestrial considerations come second. Warm water conditions are strongly preferred, but as cold water conditions are tolerable, siaalasen are not averse to developing in particularly resource rich locations in arctic waters devoid of thermal vents.
Saltwater nor freshwater has any bearing on long term survival, but at the individual level, a siaalasen will typically prefer the type of water they grew up in.
Terrestial considerations for siaalasen always depend on proximity to water, and development will occur along rivers that lead to seas or oceans. Lakes are usually considered unsuitable, and typically are only host to fishing operations. The species does not often fare well at high altitudes.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

When submerged, siaalesen have an exceptional sense of smell and hearing. Outside of water, these senses are notably weakened, but still reasonably keen. They have powerful low light vision, which functions just as well outside of water. Actual eyesight is fairly average. They have ampullae, a unique sense in that they can detect weak electrical signals present in all life. This gives them a sort of 'blind sight' to hunt in full dark conditions.

Civilization and Culture

Beauty Ideals

Contrary to what other species may see or expect with bioluminescence, the glow is considered opposed to conventional ideals of beauty among siaalesen. It is historically tied to the deep diving fishers, who needed the glow to communicate in dark depths, and to impersonate leviathan creatures as a group defense. Indeed, the glow is still frequently found among the deep fishers, even with modern technology.
A fisher was a respected profession, but still one of low birth throughout history. As such, having the glow is associated with a life of labor and is contrary to beauty ideals.

History

Siaalasen history is marked with an ever constant fight for survival against the volatile nature of their homeworld of Sasschiia. The planet is over 95% water, and is wracked with volcanic activity. This ensured the underwater heat needed for aquatic life to thrive in remarkable quantities, but also meant many siaalasen were not known to live in any one place for more than a few generations at best, before new volcanic and tectonic forced a move. If not from destruction, then from the monstrous leviathans that were often forced to shallower and cooler waters, bringing a potentially apocalyptic threat to any growing settlement. This volatility made the few landmasses on Sasschiia remarkably valuable as populations increased and the needed for permanence grew. The largest one, Kandash, was host to the first permanent settlements, and the first terrestial wars due to the limited amount of space. Although fighting over the landmasses was constant, it allowed the siaalasen to develop technology at a quicker rate than they ever could beneath the waves. Conflict over land was only ever curtailed after the industrial age and the advent of erestal technology, allowing the construction of monolithic submersible vehicles, or the wandering cities as they became known. The Wandering Cities allowed permanent construction, but the ability to travel and move away from ever changing dangers.
These cities eventually became the ideal launch platforms for forays into space, and the siaalasen began their difficulty journey into the stars. Aquatic worlds turned out to be scarce, far and few between. Gigantic laandmasses were a pleasant surprise, but a woeful waste of space for a species that could not settle indefinitely inland.
In a great fit of irony, it became the lower echelons of siaalasen that truly spearheaded the pushes to explore and settle new worlds, ignoring their scarce pickings for ideal environments and developing new ways to live within landmasses. Bubble cities, long term out-of-water breathing apparatuses, and other such technologies as well as cultural adjustments to successfully raise aquatic young in water limited environments.
The lower classes of society were the fishermen and deep sea miners, the fantastic bioluminescent members of the siaalasen species, frustrated by the stigmas of their positions and appearances, sought new lives elsewhere and in so doing, paved the way for the rest of their species by developing the colonies needed that finally, truly, unshackled them from their homeworld.
Siaalasen space colonization was a conflict free, if slow going process. It took millenia before they encountered their first alien life, when in 1061 UE (1939 CE) a exotic fishing vessel encountered a joint lupari/falashai/viliti colony on the planet Yanya, in a system that the siaalasen explored two centuries before, but never made a move to colonize. The fishing vessel ‘Catch of the Far Reach’ had dragged in a disposable jump gate when they had realized the system was now occupied.
Protocol was to return home and report the discovery, but the captain, one Xinshi Alsis decided against allowing the upper classes urbanites of the homeworld to take control of the situation, and initiated first contact himself. The vibrant bioluminescent fishermen crew gave the UTO colonists the impression of a high tier diplomatic envoy mission, and the finest diplomats in the UTO were quickly summoned.
Although the true nature of the ‘Catch of the Far Reach’ was a surprise, and the crew was not even slightly qualified for diplomatic contact, initial contact went amicably and with the Far Reach’s help, the UTO made a more organized first contact with the rest of siaalasen civilization, with exotic fish as great diplomatic gifts.
The conservative nature of the homeword left little hope for convincing the species to join an alliance or union, and they connsider themselves fully neutral. The amelshen of the Astejean Tripact were the only species that came close to forming joint colonization efforts with the siaalasen, due to their shared aquatic natures, but no officially endorsed efforts have gone through.

Origin/Ancestry

Sharks (No True Earth Equivalent)

Lifespan

123 Years

Average Height

83.2 Feet – 25.36 Meters - 2.06 Valen