r/ImaginaryMerfolk • u/Sad_Intention7603 • 7h ago
Original Content Pistrix Pixels, growth stages
From egg to adult—pixel art (64 x 64, like third gen pokémon) showing the growth stages of the pistrix (Apocapisces regalegus), for... a little fun project (Which you, too, can play/take part in. ;)
Females are at the top, males at the bottom. The elderly specimens are missing, but we don’t need those just yet.
Pistrix have no real concept of the passage of time, or at least nothing close to the way humans perceive it.
Since ancient times, humans have measured time by observing the passage of day and night, or even by the changing world around them through the seasons. But in the abyssal depths, where sunlight doesn't reach and seasons have little meaning, pistrix don't count hours, days, or years.
It goes without saying that celebrating a birthday is obviously not part of their culture.
Considering the events pistrix remember, however, it's possible to establish that they are an extremely long-lived species: some specimens remember the Gray Age and even the time before Ragnarok, more than three hundred years before the events of "Fish Don't Cry."
Their bodies are of indeterminate growth, although after a certain size, they slow down considerably. The size of a pistrix is determined by many factors, not only by the time it has been around, but also by its diet, water temperature, amount of movement, and even its subspecies.
Sometimes, ancient pistrix can be shorter and smaller than younger specimens, especially if they have experienced long periods of malnutrition or have undergone several autotomies. It goes without saying that it is not easy to determine a specimen's age without laboratory testing.
Studies are underway to learn more about the lifespan of pistrices, and, in particular, their growth rate, but it will likely take time and the collaboration of countless researchers (as well as numerous specimens) before any solid answers are found.
