Angler Snake

Also known as the Water Vine Snake, the Angler Snake is a species of Serpeform reptile native to the jungles of Axthet and the inland part of The Dawn Coast.   Like the other native reptiles of the Morning Shores, the Angler Snake bears no common ancestry with reptiles from the Old Lands, and the resemblance is the product of convergent evolution. The Angler Snake has the four eyes common to Morning Shores reptiles, and like many other Serpeform reptiles the Angler Snake's feathers are confined to a narrow crest atop their head, and an equally narrow mane that runs down the length of their spine. In contrast to most other Serpeform reptiles, the colours of their crests and manes exactly matches the patterns of their scaly hide.   The majority of an Angler Snake's life is spent hanging down over a stream from an overhanging branch like a vine, or coiled around an actual vine, where it lies in wait to ambush its prey. Their diet almost exclusively consists of small, shallow swimming jungle fish, which they strike at and pull upwards out of the water. Since they rely almost exclusively on sight for hunting, their four eyes are unusually large, and they are capable of compensating for refraction effects on the water's surfce. Their favoured prey is fish with smooth hides, and will avoid spiky fish such as the Axtheti Stickleback. Despite their impressive visual acuity, they are sometimes fooled by fish shaped leaves floating in the water.   If approached, Angler Snakes will typically retreat back up to the branch they hang from and coil up in preparation for a defensive strike. They are believed to be either non-venomous or only weakly venomous, with recorded human fatalities after a bite attributed to an infection of the wound rather than envenomation by the Angler Snake.  

Subspecies

  There are three recorded subspecies of Angler Snake, separated by different habitats. All three subspecies are capable of breeding with each other to create interesting hybrids and colour morphs, though this rarely happens in the wild.    

Mangal Angler

S. o. deltaensis   Also known as the Jade Angler, the Mangal Angler only resides among the mangroves at the edge of the Jade Delta. They have the narrowest habitat range of all Angler Snake subspecies, and prey only on fish that live in brackish water.    

Sapphire Angler

S. o. cisrupes   The Sapphire Angler is the most commonly encountered subspecies of Angler Snake in the Morning Shores, due to living on the lower jungles on the Dawn Coast side of the Black Cliffs. Only their population's geographic isolation to the Turquoise Angler forms the basis of splitting them into distinct subspecies.    

Turquoise Angler

S. o. transrupes   The Turquoise Angler is only rarely encountered, restricted to the high, borderline inaccessible Axthet jungle side of the Black Cliffs. Only their population's geographic isolation to the Sapphire Angler forms the basis of splitting them into distinct subspecies, though sometimes they can be washed over one of the myriad waterfalls into the coastal jungles to mingle with the Sapphire Angler population.  

Notable Individuals

 

Salty Joe

  Salty Joe was a Mangal Angler who had somehow found his way all the way over to Port Alexa, far away from his native habitat of the Jade Delta. He was discovered hanging from the awning of a fishmonger's stall, from which he'd been pinching freshly caught fish. He was adopted as a mascot of the local fishing fleet, and his likeness can still be found painted on the hulls of fishing trawlers.