#mersalmon

Although it is rare, some male mersalmon (estimated one in four hundred) also exhibit a color change on the skin, which is pigmented green, with the ends of the upper limbs (arms and wrists) particularly dark (and called "gloves") . The contrast between the green of the skin of the torso, and the intense color of the scales of the tail, makes them particularly striking, but also particularly visible to predators, and this is why "green" males are so few: for them it is difficult to survive and pass on their genetics.

It's mermay again! This means we continue the work we started last year, with worldbuilding on our merfolk species, and in particular our favorite: mersalmon/ceasg!

And let's add, in addition to David Xanatos, also Vlad Plasmius to the ranks of these colorful creatures with delicious meat... here you can admire him in his rut livery and chibi version :)

(And if you understand Italian language, yeah, here you can read all the info about mersalmons (maregens salmo) )

[Oh, and a lot more of our Danny Phantom fanarts: Here’s our tag!]

Another ballpoint pen sketch of Xanatos & Plasmius as mersalmons :3

Although male mersalmones are famous for their displays and ritualistic fights, in the absence of a female to court they tend to treat each other with marked camaraderie. Even during the breeding season it is possible to see them half-stranded, on the rocks, busy talking amiably to each other, waiting to spot the females and start fighting each other to attract them.

(And if you understand Italian language, yeah, here you can read all the info about mersalmons (maregens salmo) )

[Oh, and a lot more of our Danny Phantom fanarts: Here’s our tag]

In addition to gregarious and dominant, there is a third type of mersalmon: jacks. Jacks mature much earlier than "regular" mersalmons and as such maintain a very small size, furthermore even during the reproductive period they do not change livery, remaining inconspicuous. Jacks do not have any dominance/submission relationship towards other mersalmons, they do not practice courtship and do not clash with each other or with other mersalmons. An adult male jack weighs around forty-five/fifty kilograms, compared to the weight of over one hundred kilograms of a regular-sized male, and would have no chance of winning in an open fight.

So, yeah, salmons have these small males called "Jacks", we could not possibly skip the opportunity of having an AU where Jack is a small guy (who, in the end, still wins the girl. Vlad is just unlucky in love, poor one! Oh, those sneaky little jacks...)

(And if you understand Italian language, yeah, here you can read all the info about mersalmons (maregens salmo) )

This was just a ballpoint pen sketch from our sketcbook, but we decided to slap some color on it, just to show the general difference in hue between a male in full rut and a non-color-changing jack.

[Oh, and a lot more of our Danny Phantom fanarts: Here’s our tag]

So, yeah, more mersalmon Xanatos and Vlad, sketched with ballpoint pen! They may fight, but they're friends. Like brothers. And maybe, yeah, real brothers too.

The dominant mersalmon males who have a good friendship relationship with each other (very often they are even brothers), often "choreograph" their skirmishes in the presence of females, thus managing to create fights that seem much more intense and therefore attractive: since they do not they have to worry about actually getting hurt, as their opponent is not really trying to subdue and hurt them, they can better show off their fins, muscles and challenge each other even verbally. Male friendship among mersalmon is essential for good reproductive success.

(And if you understand Italian language, yeah, here you can read all the info about mersalmons (maregens salmo) )

[Oh, and a lot more of our Danny Phantom fanarts: Here’s our tag!]

It's May, and it's time to flaunt some shiny scales! Xanatos as dominant mersalmon, and Owen, of course, as his gregarious. One of the two shows off his colors and ornaments (there's maybe a nice, sexy sharkmaid to impress?), the other acts as a "sentinel".

Finally in color, traditional art commission for @lunartidesmagic!

Dominant mersalmon males tend to adorn themselves with objects found on the seabed, whether they are of organic or inorganic origin. Many are attracted to artifacts of human origin, even those seemingly without decorative value, such as food packaging or floppy disks.

As they are short-sighted out of the water, very often the gregarious mersalmon act as "additional eyes" for the dominant ones, scanning the surrounding environment in search of dangers or interesting things when they are totally or partially emersed. It even happens that the gregarious are equipped with lenses, disconnected from each other or in a frame (real glasses) that help them in their task.

More merfolk Xanatos (+ Owen). Ballpoint pen sketch for #Mermay!

(Is this all @lunartidesmagic‘s fault? Yes. Yes it is. Again).

[Oh, and a lot more of our Gargoyles fanarts: Here’s the Gargoyles tag!]

During the reproductive period, mersalmon specimens exhibit a peculiar muscle growth; this hypertrophy is not exclusively for aesthetic reasons (although it seems to contribute a lot to the choice of partner), but it is necessary to sustain the effort the ascent of the waterfalls.

In this illustration, you can see the back of a male in the breeding season.

Here, have another Merfolk Xanatos. Of course he’s a salmon.

(Is this all @lunartidesmagic‘s fault? Yes. Yes it is).

Ballpoint pen sketch!

[Oh, and a lot more of our Gargoyles fanarts: Here’s the Gargoyles tag!]

There are known cases of mersalmon males who willingly accepted to undergo the torture of bites, typical of nixen courtship, and managed to produce fertile offspring with them. Although male nixens normally use only force to conquer females, biting and chasing them, it seems that the courtship ritual of mersalmons, composed mostly of displays and songs, can still convince female nixens to mate.

Xanatos (as mersalmon) and Fox (as nixen) illustrate this mixed courtship ritual...

Last day of mermay, last illustration of the month! Ballpoint pen sketches.

[Oh, and a lot more of our Gargoyles fanarts: Here’s the Gargoyles tag]