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Ancestor: Beach Cat

Size: Smallest species around 50 cm long, largest species  up to 1m.

Dietary Needs: A mixed diet of aquatic and terrestrial prey. Crustaceans, fish, squid, mice, birds and rabbits. Requires oily fish (anchovetta, trout).

Life Cycle: Females go into anestrus (pause in reproductive cycle) during the height of summer when the coastline is more volatile and ocean swells from storms bring  sea water further inland than the tides would normally take it.

They repurpose the burrows of rabbits to raise their kittens, though they widen the burrows so they can fit. This is because their mother takes to the sea often to feed on fish and keep her milk supply at maximum, so the kittens need a place that is safer than under a bush or in the grass to hide. The mother is not alone however, the kitten's father is likely near by keeping other males and other predators away. The father is less proactive in the care of the kittens but his presence gives the kittens a crucial edge, including when they get older and begin to play and learn how to become adults. Because he might visit several females with other kittens that are his he can't be around all the time.

Males are very competitive over females and territory. Usually only larger, older males are successful however. Younger males are forced to roam and experience loss for their first few years of life until they gain the bulk to become competitive. Competition can be violent, with only minimal sizing up.

Females still have the ability to produce litters with multiple males but this is a relic of their past from the more widely-roaming ancestor. In Mergs, mixed-father litters don't stay so far long, as the competing kittens get killed whether the female protests or not. Because territories are confined to coastal areas or near water the females often don't have many places to  go to raise kittens in solitude. It is advantageous for females to keep litters single-fathered, as the father offers more than his protection, he also shares food.

Other: To avoid their bodies becoming too chilled in cooler water they have a fat layer that gives them a rounded shape, and along with the fat the elastic skin keeps them streamlined.

For being legged animals without fins they are good, quick swimmers. Their thick tail mainly acts as a rudder when they need to switch direction and still have momentum, and is not really used much for propulsion. The legs are primarily for swimming propulsion. Their feet are webbed and when they spread their toes apart can become effectively paddle-like.

When they swim their nostrils are closed by tension of the upper lip only around the nostrils, but not down at the mouth opening so the mouth remains closed. The tension of this muscle causes it to swell, which closes the nostril tightly. Relaxation of the muscle (and pulling downward due to tension of other attachments) opens it clearly.

Their fur is densely packed, but only a few millimetres long. This makes them appear furless with a velvety shine. It still serves a purpose of keeping them warm, aquadynamic and protecting their skin from abrasion even though it is very short, due to it's density. They also excrete some oil from their skin that when licked into the fur creates a slightly hydrophobic layer to minimize the touching of skin to water. This oil is a type of fat produced in excess from their fishy diet.

Their ancestor used to produce excessive, salty tears as one adaptation to removing salt from the body. This is still true, but now the tear duct is split between producing normal tears and very salty tears. The very salty tears exit a spiracle directly behind the eye. Even freshwater species have this as they sometimes venture to the coast. However in at least one freshwater species the closed, reduced spiracle (and the tear duct partition) seem non-functional.

Subspecies:

Due to living near the water's edge their populations are widely spread, but also usually become isolated from one another over time. Below is a river-dwelling merg, of which there are many that evolved in isolation from one another due to the discrete nature of the river habitats.