Blue Ringed Drake

Draco Cyanocirculus

One of the species of the genus draco within order Draconidae, Blue Ringed Drakes are a common sight among the warm, shallow kelp forests of the few oceanic worlds still left along the Protium Shore. They are among the largest of the Lesser Draconids.

Anatomy

As a member of the reptilian order draconidae, blue ringed drakes share many anatomical features with their fellow draconids, Their hides consist of small, rough scales with a line of larger hard scale plates running down the length of their spines. The frills over their ear holes have long, thin, cartilaginous spines and little membrane. Their snouts are fused into beaks capable of crushing the exoskeletons of small crustaceans.
Blue ringed drakes are a squat and bulky semi-aquatic quadrupedal species. Their four legs are more suited for swimming through the warm, shallow seas than for awkwardly scrambling over the rocky shores they nest on. They spend much of the day basking under the sun, warming themselves up before they dive into the sea to graze on kelp and small crustaceans. Like some members of the related genus wyvero, the blue ringed drake possesses venomous stingers in its tail, which the drake uses defensively.
Blue ringed drakes have a primarily black hide with red or green stripes down their flanks. They are one of the few Lesser Draconids to possess chromataphores under their scales. Most of the time, these remain inactive, but when the blue ringed drake feels threatened, its body erupts in dancing rings of brilliant cyan iridescence as an aposematic warning. Should this warning be ignored, it will lash out with the stingers in its tail. Its venom is one of the most deadly of any draconid, a potent neurotoxin that causes paralysis that frequently leads to suffocation or drowning.

Aberrance

Like all draconids, and most things that exist in the Great Constellation, blue ringed drakes are susceptible to the hostile effects of aberrance.

Aberrant Monochromacy

Their displays are the same exact grey as their hides, a deadly warning that is impossible to notice.

A minor aberrance where the hide of an afflicted blue ringed drake becomes a pure, solid, neutral grey. The drake's chromataphores are also affected, leaving the normally vibrant flashes of its aposematic warnings nearly impossible to notice, leading afflicted drakes to lash out with seemingly no warning at all.

Despite their cautious temperament, these marine drakes should not be approached. Once their sandy hides flash, the sting in their tail comes out.

Clade Structure

Draconidae
draco
d. cyanocirculus

Keywords

Draconid, Lesser Draconid, Aquatic, Fleshy, Toxin, Quadruped