The Prickly Bloatfish

Order: Spathospondyliformes

Family: Spathospondylidae

Genus: Spathospondylus

One of Alladoras's most curious inhabitants are the bloatfish, part of a sizeable clade (Spathospondyliformes) which are easily identified by their monopolisation of paired-fin swimming, with many species of the clade atrophying their tail muscles and caudal rhachis while their pectoral fins have grown in size and become more specialised for swimming. Bloatfish are the most derived of the spathospondyliforms, which can be displayed in their textbook species, the prickly bloatfish.

Bloatfish are all identified by their water filled stomach. The reason they are specifically named bloatfish is because, when threatened, they can suck in large amounts of water into a water-filled sac, which also extends through into the ophistoma, filling up the space that the atrophied tail muscles would have filled, essentially inflating, not dissimilar to a Terran pufferfish, however both the 'tail' and 'body' puff out, giving it a 'bloated' appearance. The species shown here, the prickly bloatfish possesses 36 venomous spines across its body, specialised hollow scales which are able to raise on end and swivel with a limited capacity. These flexible spines are hollow and usually covered in a tight layer of membrane, which when pulled back reveal the spine, which is white in colour. When threatened, the prickly bloatfish puffs up to make itself look bigger, raises its spines on end, and if bitten, the spine will inject into the body of the attacker pumps a sizeable amount of venom (roughly 121 mg dry weight) into the bloodstream. The venom is not relatively potent in small amounts, but the size of the prickly bloatfish allows it to pump in a large amount of venom into its attackers. 

Usually, the first symptoms of envenomation is an intense  burning sensation at the site, which eventually escalates to elevated heart rate and convulsions. A case like that is rare, and the sting usually wears off in several days, however if a large amount of venom is pumped in, the potency will be greatly increased. This toxin in its venom is found in many other species in the genus Spathospondylus and is called spathotoxin (SPT), similar to the chlorotoxin of deathstalker scorpions on Earth, but the structure is more analogous to tetrodotoxin. The prickly bloatfish is by far not the most venomous species in its clade, with Spathospondylus fasciata, the eight-lined bloatfish, is a tiny (roughly 18 cm) species which produces venom which not only produces spathotoxin but also a receptor-agonist toxin called fasciatoxin which is an extremely potent venom which interferes with nerve signals and can cause death. 

The prickly bloatfish also possesses a unique diet of the poisonous striated skiddlecrab, which possesses a fast-acting poison within its flesh, which the bloatfish appears to be in an evolutionary arms-race with. Skiddlecrab poison can be ingested if digestion is rapid enough, in which the prickly will crunch the exoskeleton and kill it quickly, and then ingesting the little creature rapidly through a short oesophagus, and the digestive acids of the stomach will easily destroy and break down the poison. Striated skiddlecrabs however are also extremely tenacious, possessing spines which irritate the oesophagus, and force a rapid regurgitation. Aside from the striated skiddlecrab, the prickly appears to eat roughly 80% of the poisonous small animals which populate the carpgrass, with its unique resilience to various poisons allowing to digest and break down usually fatal toxins, which are components of the poisons of its prey. The bloatfish also is not picky in what it eats, it will also eat the poisonous eggs of cowslingers (even a cowslinger themselves if it is hungry enough), bones and small pelagys. These are relatively strange for its clade, Spathospondylus, which usually only eat nonvenomous hard-shelled aliens or seeds, which makes the prickly a very tenacious and widespread species, which lives where it wants and will not care for what kind of food they will eat; a perfect generalist.

Another strange trait of the prickly bloatfish their nesting habits, which are displayed as creating complex nests utilising rocks, seed casings, shells and bones. Males often gather in deeper waters to look for sandbars, in which they gather hard materials to create large nests. Females often select those nests in which are the most suitable to attach the eggs to, in which to protect the eggs as the prickly bloatfish father stays to protect the brood. Males often steal, destroy and hijack other males' nests in order to compete for attention. Males even pick out brightly coloured seed pods and shells to impress more females. These mating grounds are extremely competitive, yet an efficient way to cement a successful male's legacy to pass on his genes to the next generation.