Wetland Life 

The coastal lowlands stretch across much of what was once Antarctica and Zealandia. A vast stretch of marshes of varying salinity ranging from a foot to 50 feet deep the vast array of aquatic vegetation supports a wide variety of life. 

Various modern groups can be found here, including Lepisosteidae, Osteoglossiformes, Anguiliformes, Galaxiiformes, Salmoniformes, and Batomorphi, which partition different levels of the water column.   

Part of the biome's success stems from the Dancing Rice Willow. A massive species of aquatic rice plant that can reach up to 50 feet tall and weigh hundreds of pounds each.

On the surface, the Rice Weed appears delicate its fluffy top swaying gently in the wind, the thick mat of stems at the surface creating floating rafts for small animals to walk over and cross across otherwise open water. 

Under the surface, the stem is armed with thousands of tiny spines that render it unpalatable for most animals. However, the spines are not sharp enough for animals to swim through the tangled mess of vegetation.

Many predators make their home in the reeds ranging from small fish the size of a human hand to the massive Lungestrikes as large as a crocodile. 

Stalksters are one clade that takes advantage of the cover provided by these plants. Evolved from the Doomcarid there are some of the largest Arhtropods to ever evolve. The Oil Spill Stalkster measures 12 feet long and a weight of 100 pounds and it’s not the largest of the clade. 

The smaller size stems from specialization as a piscivore with less powerful raptorial arms lined with interlocking spines to snare fish. 

It prefers to hunt at night when fish are less alert and its own poor sight is made up for by its sense of smell and taste. 

During the day it lays nearly motionless at the deepest parts of the marsh and as the marshes aquatic herbivores begin their daily foraging. 

Snurtles are one of the most common smaller herbivores. 

Mostly aquatic sockhops they’ve seen the revolution of a thicker shell. Unlike any other snail, the shell has come around the body forming an interlocking shell that rests tightly around the body.

The shell has shifted the center of mass forward swimming with the head region sticking straight out and moving with a frog-like bounding motion on land. 

The reinforced shell protects them when feeding on aquatic plants the evolutionary pressure that led to the evolution of the stomach shell.

The scrapping of algae provides a cleaning service to many of the water's herbivores, but also predators. Lungestrikes and Stalkters let them eat off their backs, making the shells more of a hassle to eat than they are worth. 

One of the animals that frequents their service is the Stellars Sea Sqow, which absolutely dwarfs the 1 to 7-pound Snurtle. 

Growing over 45 feet long and weighing up to 25 tons these massive Manasquees are the biggest Terra Squid alive outweighing the biggest Parade Squids by several tons. 

These Squid feeds around the clock 24/7. Their round blimp-like bodies make them buoyant and allow them to float leisurely. Adults are invulnerable to even the largest Sharks or Marine Blish. 

A short trunk lets them crop the tops of aquatic plants and push them into their beak. A diet of soft plants requires minimal chewing on their part and relies on a lengthy digestive tract that stretches over 500 feet when laid out. 

Even with how rich the waters of the Coastal Lowlands there are only so many of these aquatic giants the ecosystem can sustain. 

Without any predators, the limiting factor is their incredibly slow life systems. Calves stay with their mothers for up to a decade and aren’t sexually mature until 20 and females only breed every half decade. 

This means this floating giants are rare on the landscape. Females live in small pods of 3-6 individuals of similar age that they may spend more than 70 years with. 

Males are solitary but in wonderings of the lowlands well gain a vast knowledge of the topography of the area and the pods that live there maintain relationships with females and other males even if they only see each other every few years. 

Related to the Manasquees Sqippos are also thriving in the late Ice Age. 

Were Manasquees evolved to swim freely Sqippos maintain the ancestral body plan as bottom punters and feed in much shallower water and on together vegetation consisting of shallow water plants and low-growing land plants. 

And where Manasquees are generally passive animals Sqippos are ornery and bad-tempered animals. 

Groups of females and their young are guarded by territorial males that frequently fight against one another. 

This hostility extends beyond their own kind being frequently hostile to other large animals around them. 

They are especially hostile to Lungestrikes and Large Silver Swimmers with even more passive Lunge Gars and filter-feeding Silverswimmers not escaping their hostility.