Axtheti Stickleback

The Axtheti Stickleback is a species of fish native to the warm waters of The Dawn Coast. Despite their name, they cannot in fact be found in waterways in the Axthet jungles. Their range is strictly limited to the waters coastward of the Black Cliffs.   Like Old Lands Sticklebacks, the Axtheti stickleback is a scaleless fish with five large spines protruding from their backs which protect them from predators such as the Angler Snake. The largest of these spines merges seemlessly with their dorsal fin. They are small fish, rarely growing above three inches in length, with the largest recorded specimen measuring at a little under four and three quarter inches long.   The Axtheti Stickleback is thought to be related to Old Lands species of Stickleback, having migrated through a gap in the Mists at some point in the distant past. It was originally believed that the Axtheti Stickleback was two seperate species, one living offshore in salt water (Gasterosteus aurorali), and the other inland in fresh water (Gasterosteus axthetensis), but it has been revealed that the Axtheti Stickleback is in fact a single species that is comfortable in a wide range of salinities.