Creature Feature: Rhinoceros Rat Snake.

So, I should be polishing my field report on my trip to Wat Dhammaran, a Thai Buddhist temple in Chicago. It's strange how at-ease I feel around Asian temples. This one's favorite theme was the image of Buddha enthroned and sheltered by nagas. That alone was enough to put me in heaven.

For those of you who have been corrupted by the internet, nagas are the rough Hindu/Buddhist equivalent of dragons - both the East and West kinds. They are often based off of cobras, which are themselves revered as the kings among serpents. They can also be hybrids of snakes and humans. Nagas are often respected as deities of water, with their own special type of water-borne fire in Thailand's Mekong River. That's not the only thing unique about them...



Remember how I said nagas are usually based off of cobras? Thai nagas are very not cobra-like. They have hoods if you squint, but that crest of 'fire' takes all of the attention away. It is almost as if they combined a cobra with an oarfish. Aside from the oarfish, however, there is one other animal that these giant dragon-snakes remind me of:



It's a living naga! Sort of. It's actually a Rhinoceros Rat Snake (Rhynchophis boulengeri). These snakes are native to China and Vietnam - no, not quite Thailand, but perhaps close enough to provide inspiration. They eat rodents, birds, and other small vertebrates.

The most outstanding thing about this colubrid is, of course, the scaly formation on the nose. It is excellent camouflage; see vine snakes and Baron's Racer for other examples of eerily-pointy snakes. It has green scales, too, so it'll look even more like part of the scenery.



Rhino rat snakes are expensive and among the more delicate captives. They are slightly tricky to breed, but not impossible. The females in particular are being bred for more blue in their palette. If you're an experienced keeper and are looking for something to add to your already-exotic collection, it's harder to get weirder than a unicorn-snake.

P.S.- new poll up! I'm equally fond of all of the ideas, but voted "La Vie En Blanc" just so that I could see what others were voting. XP

Creature Feature: Violet/Dragon Goby.

So, I was at Wal-Mart the other day. No, I do not shop there regularly. It just happens to have my allergy pills cheaper than anywhere else. Regardless of why I was there, I wandered over to the aquarium section and saw this:


You can't even tell him apart from the stone Chinese dragon.

The card called it a dragonfish. My first thought was "No, that can't be an arowana. Or oarfish." It looked creepy and eel-like, like an undead Chinese dragon or baby frilled shark.

Then I looked it up. There are not only five or so different fish colloquially called "dragonfish," but this one was a goby. To help the readers understand my shock, this is what the average goby looks like:



The Dragon or Violet Goby (Gobioides brousonnetti) looks like a baby arowana. It has a mouth that snaps like a trapdoor and is armed with razor-sharp teeth. Don't let that fool you. Dragon Gobies are scavengers/small predators native to the brackish waters of Florida, which is slowly becoming the new Southeast Asia. It ranges all the way to northern Brazil. 

It gets weirder. Like all gobies, the Dragon Goby has a sucker instead of a pelvic fin. It will, like one of those sucker fish (Plecos, for those wondering), stick to the side of the tank like a leech-dragon. It is also nearly blind, making things even stranger.  Geeez, D-War, why couldn't you make nightmare fuel out of that instead of botching your own national mythology?

Nightmare fuel. Yes.

Should you wish to tame a dragon of your very own, there are various care sheets online. Most of them recommend a diet of bloodworms, shrimp, and, umm, letting the fish filter out whatever's growing on the gravel. They would rather eat dead things than live. Include other docile fish that can handle the dragon's brackish environ. Dragon Gobies are hardy, but you will get the best fish if you make the aquarium as close to its natural habitat as possible. They don't belong in Wal-Mart mini-tanks.

Creature Feature: Oarfish.

Happy Chinese New Year! Starting today, February 3rd, we are officially in the Year of the White Rabbit.

Oh, the horror.

No, today's animal is not the Killer White Rabbit; that does not exist, unfortunately. We suspect Playboy bunnies of being legendary creatures as well. That white rabbit in the moon that keeps popping up in anime? Not sure about that one, or the one in Alice in Wonderland. What does exist is the Chinese dragon.

Really.



If you take this fish anywhere in Asia, the local people are guaranteed to tie it to a dragon somehow. Various posts from Thailand have called it "son of the dragon," "Queen of Nagas (naga being another type of dragon, mind)", or something along those lines. The Japanese see it as a messenger from the Sea Dragon God's palace (竜宮の使い); small wonder, seeing as oarfish are extremely deep-water fish.

They are also HUGE.

Oarfish (genus Regalecus) are long, slender fish with a bright red coxcomb that runs from their heads to their tails. This, combined with a massive length of over 50 feet in some species (R. russeli and R. glesne in particular) have given this rare fish the title of 'king.' R. glesne, the longest bony fish in existence at 56 ft (17.2 meters), has the rather dull nickname of "king of herrings."

Although they have a worldwide range, encounters with oarfish are rare. These majestic fish are smart enough to live only in the deeper parts of the ocean, thus preventing humans from keeping them as pets. The oarfish caught on film are either dead, dying, or briefly coming up to the surface world to feed (maybe?) in a strange vertical position. They are toothless and thus harmless to humans. *Insert How to Train Your Dragon joke here.* If you encounter one, be sure to take a picture.

Of course, Asia has gone wild with oarfish. No, they are not good sushi; oarfish are coated with a layer of guanine slime and have unpalatable flesh. In part because they are related to dragons, they have gotten a Pokemon in Milotic, a Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card, and a Touhou character.

Oh, speaking of Touhou, they also made a lunar white rabbit. It is not physically possible to handle this many bunnies. Happy Chinese New Year!

Creature Feature: The Asian Arowana.

In China, dragons are only associated with snakes in that they share a House in the Chinese zodiac. Otherwise, they are completely different creatures. This is untrue of every other type of dragon; all other dragons derive their names from some word for 'snake.' (This is worth its own essay.) Instead of being menacing fire-breathers like Western dragons, Chinese dragons manipulate water and are revered as gods. Images of dragons are considered lucky, but Chinese dragons are always associated with fish instead of snakes.

Inaccurate on so many levels. Note the spaded tail at one point.

One of the more well-known connections between dragons and fish is the story of the Dragon Gate. If a carp jumps over a certain waterfall, it will become a dragon. One version involves a carp tricking a dragon guarding the gate, then jumping over. However you decide to play it, the theme of a humble fish becoming a dragon is invoked on Boys' Day (in Japan) to ensure that one's son will be successful, just like the carp that jumped the Dragon Gate. (Maybe it flipped the dragon the bird while doing so. Nobody knows.)

They swim upstream like this. All day long.

A number of fish, such as the Asian red arowana (Scleropages formosus), are also draconic by association. There are actually quite a few different localities of arowana in Asia, but this will focus on the 'chili red' sort. As with almost everything else awesome, the red varieties of arowana are all native to Indonesia. These have been so over fished that the species had to be placed on the Endangered list. Its habitat is also being depleted, but the pet trade is far more threatening. People want these fish specifically. The prices for them run into 6 digits.

So, what makes this fish such a big deal? Aren't people content with koi?

...Wow. WOW. THAT is a fish that looks like it could become a dragon at any second! One Asian arowana fan describes the fish as "flying through the water like a dragon flying through the sky." Its regal appearance, large size (around 3 feet; that's not even the family's biggest member!) barbels (whiskers on a fish), and gleaming red scales all make it look like China's favorite legendary creature. No offense to the carp; it's determined, but damn if these red arowana do not look like a step between fish and dragon. HOLY CARP!

There are a number of reasons that people want red arowana, but the main one is that they look like dragons. Other explanations include feng shui (since water is a yin body, a fish with fiery, yang coloration must be added to balance it out), general good luck (which is again linked to the dragon), and fish being able to detect guests with ill will or dying in their masters' steads. Never mind the Chinese Cinderella story that some of us were forced to read for writing classes.

More awesome arowana pictures here. Please support well-meaning farms if you want an arowana; otherwise, you are violating CITES regulations. They also get huge, so be prepared to get a large tank.