The Baleens have a few varieties of houses, but in the areas where good sand is plentiful, along with the other supplies needed, you can't beat a good solid glass dome.

So, how do the baleens make more baleens? Like a plant, in a way.

Baleens, and a lot of animals on their planet in general, are much more closely related to plants than animals on Earth. As such, they still retain some very plant like features. Up to and including their reproduction.

Males (givers) give a genetic packet similar to pollen to females (carriers). Once they are ready, they will fertilize the buds on their tails. After a while, buds will begin to form. The buds themselves take about three months to fully open, at which time the babies are ready to be out of the bud, if not mobile.

So what kind of critters live in the oceans of the Baleen world? Critters like these!

Tube fish are odd "fish" indeed, having evolved a way to remove up to half their body in an emergency situation or to escape a predator. It's very hard to guess the true age of a tube fish, since many shed their lower halves at at least one point or another. It's a rare gem of a specimen indeed that lives to be long.

They keep most of their organs in the first two segments of their body, with the third and fourth growing back ups as they grow larger.

Tidal Baleens have learned how to raise and farm tube fish, and successfully 'harvest' the lower segments once a year from their costal farms. They make sure the fish are well fed and safe the rest of the year, and as such it's a pretty useful relationship for both.

Unlike on earth, the tri-limb body plan panned out and continued to evolve on the baleen world. Primarily in the ocean.

Spiral Jellies and tripods are all related, where as the spiral fish is related much, much further down the family line. Spiral jellies eat similar to earth jellyfish, where they catch and filter planktons and the like from the water.

Some expressions for the Baleens. Trying to make expressions that aren't too human but are still readable is a fun challenge.

And resisting the urge to borrow too much from horses as well

Playing with the idea that showing their nostrils is a big sign of comfort/discomfort. Mainly because it's tucked behind the muzzle/nose skin, so it takes effort to have them actually be visible.

The baleens loosely have three genders, as humans see things. Givers (male), Carriers (female), and Duals (NB/genderfluid).

So, how do the baleens see gender? Not exactly as fluid, but of the three big groups of baleens, the Mist Desert tends to be in the middle ground towards swapping things around. Just as long as you do your best to look the part. A carrier switching to a giver presentation is fine. But they are still expected to work for and with the community. And this could include still having buds if their family needs it. Givers switching to being carriers have it slightly easier - they can still 'carry' young after they are born, but will need help preparing food from the carrier parent for the babies. Or, something like a nursemaid, when there are situations where buds have been abandoned or the mother had died.

In more supportive families, tusks will often be carved, or harnesses woven, and given as a gift and a sign of acceptance. Or, tusk caps can be carved and made very ornate, to show how loved the member is. For those who may be kicked out, they consider making their own markers of gender as a show of pride and strength. There are some traveling groups who do their best to pick up 'strays' like this, and help them find their place with other families.

Sometimes a tusk set will be passed down for generations in family groups, until they are needed or wanted again.

Tundra baleen tend to be much stricter with their gender roles. Switching can happen among families who live along the borders or trade routes, but the further into the ice and snow you get, the more pressure there is to stick to one or the other. (None of this nonbinary nonsense, you're a Giver or a Carrier.)

Mangrove Baleens are live-and-let live. Who cares what they call you, he, she, it, they, can you cook a good meal? Can you fix up a house? Are you good with a spear? Do they kids like you? That's what matters more.

Now, the reason Giver baleens will cap their tusks when switching to present as Carriers instead of fully removing them is to prove they aren't a criminal, and that this also wasn't accidental. (De-tusking is a punishment! And when accidents happen, they often keep at least one tusk if they can.)

The makeup worn by both genders to match their roles is a mix of sand and ground up, dried plants carefully dusted over their faces. They aren't expected to paint their whole bodies, but some of the more dedicated do so, or wear special cloth covers.