Genus Balaenami

In addition to the obvious baleen of this genus, Balaenami is the genus with the largest animals to ever exist in the history of the planet. Members of this genus have expandable throat pouches lined on the inside with baleen teeth that help sift through any plankton or additional organisms that didn’t make it past the mouth baleen. When fully expanded, these throat poaches can expand in width as wide as the necks are long. Smaller organisms such as krill and even some fish are even adapted to life inside these neck pouches. With some fish being capable of lodging themself within the flesh lining the inside, catching prey that were unfortunate enough to get sucked in by the incredible power of these necks. The krill inside these necks feed abundantly off the clusters of detritus that get sucked in and stuck between the baleen.

Leviathan Hemot (Balaenami imperator)

The largest animal to ever live, the leviathan hemot is definitely worthy of its name, reaching lengths up to 30-45m long and weighing between 85.5-340 metric tonnes. Many leviathan hemots possess a body of either light blue or sleet grey depending on geographical location with many also being documented as having black and white spots on their necks and backs or stripes along their large broad mouths. Leviathan hemots are some of, if not the most, known hemots in the world with several depictions of them in folklore and media spanning decades and centuries since the beginning of recorded human history. In addition to the size and notoriety, the leviathan is also one of the most intelligent animals. Many argue on the capacity of their intelligence with their complex noises and calls that sound eerily close to language. The emotional and social capacity is also incredibly advanced and rivals that of humans. Leviathans often are led by a dominant matriarch that tends to the children and sick of her fleet. It was the perplexing behaviours and remarkable intelligence observed in the leviathan hemots has resulted in the founding of the PRI (Pescanguid Research Initiative) which aims to decipher the intelligence of the leviathan hemot as well as the azure tiko and arctic tiko.

Winged Hemot (Balaenami macroptera)

The winged hemot holds the record for having the largest pectoral fins of all hemots which are wide and wing-like. The function of which is believed to be for sexual selection as the male winged hemots often have vibrant patterns on the wings and during mating season, the males often make gestures and movements that show off their impressive fins. Unfortunately, the winged hemot faces critical endangerment, with populations critically low due to poaching and spearing. Poachers often find the beautiful, vibrant, and large pectoral fins a highly sought after prize to sell. Conservational efforts have been put into effect and many nations have declared it illegal to go spearing and to kill winged hemots.

Northeastern Thundersnake (Balaenami lopholochi)

The northeastern thundersnake, or known simply as the thundersnake is the third largest hemot in the world and are well known for their gentle nature and peaceful songs comprising of deep bellowing and high pitched clicks. It is a baleen hemot that is most famous for its ability to digest almost anything that gets sucked into its mouth and expandable neck pouch, both of which are large compared to others within its genus. Unfortunately, however, they are also the most endangered of the hemots, as they were a popular target for hemoling by hemolers in the early to mid 1800s. And although hemoling has been banned in many parts of the world already, poachers in international waters still partake in hemoling. In the modern day, some conservational efforts have helped rebuild the thundersnake populations to a more stable level. Though it will take more effort and time to get their numbers to a healthy level.

Combtooth Hemot (Balaenami excelsus)

The combtooth hemot is a deeper dwelling species of Balaenami that, despite being an air breather, is rarely ever seen. Less than 80 specimens have been found since the discovery of the combtooth in 1892 and even with modern technology, there has been little success in finding them. Despite being a member of the largest genus of vertibrate animals alive, the combtooth, at least the specimens found, have only reached lengths of up to 7.3-8m (23-26ft). The longest specimen, nicknamed Ghost after her elusive nature, was also the oldest specimen. With the help of carbon dating, scientists were able to determine that Ghost was roughly 283 years give or take meaning she was likely born in 1734. Unfortunately in 2017, Ghost passed away from her old age. After appropriate study, her body was taxidermied and is now displayed at The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Ghost herself was a lighter grayish colour while many other combtooths have been seen as much darker, almost black, in colour. This suggests to scientists that perhaps the lighter colouring is an aspect of the combtooth's age, but it's difficult to tell with the small amount of information and data we have of these elusive creatures. The combtooth, in addition to its elusivity, is the most controversial in the scientific community. Many groups argue the combtooth should be classified as a separate genus from the genus Balaenami and instead in a new genus titled Prospodoidae due to its vastly different baleen dentition, which consists of tightly packed baleen that are so closely packed that they resemble the teeth of a comb, and its unusal lifestyle of solitude and deep diving. Others argue that the combtooth is merely an outlier of its genus with distincively different features from other species in the genus Balaenami due to different environmental and ecological pressures.

Genus Balaenami

Leviathan Hemot (Balaenami imperator)

The Leviathan Hemot and a depiction of it filter feeding

Winged Hemot (Balaenami macroptera)

The Winged Hemot. A head closeup, fin closeup, and full body

Northeastern Thundersnake (Balaenami lopholochi)

The Thundersnake. A head closeup and full body

Combtooth Hemot (Balaenami excelsus)

A head closeup and full body of the Combtooth Hemot