Ocean flish

The **ocean flish** (*Larusichthyopteryx marinus*) is a species of flish that that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the modern world's shorelines. An ocean flish is a large species of flish, usually growing to be about the size of a seagull. It can flap up to eight times a second. A muscular fin base, in the space occupied by the gills in most other fish, supports a broad aerodynamic wing surface that can flap up to eight times a second or faster. In full flight, an ocean flish flaps its wings for a few seconds and then glide, looking for prey in the waves below. The ocean flish dive for schooling fish and shoaling silverswimmers below the surface. The juvenile duck-sized ocean flish skim plankton from the waves. The ocean flish has a toothy jaw very similar to the closest relative of the flishes (including ocean flish), the lobe-finned fish such as coelacanths. When ocean flish rest they do so either on the surface of the ocean, floating like the seabirds, buoyed up by the air in their lungs, fat stores around their chest and watertight insulating scales, or they rest in a pterosaur-like position on hard-surfaced objects such as rocks and man-made buildings. Their flying fins are stretched sail-like over their backs and their muscular pelvic fins reach down into the sea like a ship's keel, steadying the animals as they float. To achieve takeoff, the ocean flish has developed a modified tail. A powerful forward thrust with the *Rhamphorhynchus*-like tail can lift a floating ocean flish clear of the surface, and the first sweep of its flying fins can have the creature airborne immediately.

    Larger subspecies of ocean flish can also launch themselves into the wind as it blasts across the crests of the waves of the open ocean. The lateral spread of the caudal fin provides a control surface, allowing the flish to steer and maneuver while in flight. At dusk, flocks of ocean flish return to the rocky outcrops of the coastal cliff faces to roost. Bobbing on the surface of the water makes flish a tasty target for swimming predators and so they have found a safe haven among the rocks. Like any flish, ocean flish have cast off the last vestiges of their aquatic heritage. They return to the ocean only to hunt. Above the waves, flocks of ocean flish wheel and circle, following the fish and silverswimmer shoals as they skin through the rich green plankton. Now and again, scales flash in the sun as a flish folds its wings and swoops into the waves disappearing for a moment and then splashing upwards with a captured fish/silverswimmer squirming in its toothy jaws. Sometimes unexpectedly, however, a rainbow squid will deceive an ocean flish or two by changing its colors to mimic the glitter of a silverswimmer shoal. Those fooled flish swoop down and end up being snatched by huge tentacles, pulled underwater and then eaten by the gigantic cephalopod. Large numbers of ocean flish are carried over the coastal mountains of the Pacific parts of South America with rare hypercanes. By the time their carcasses tumble into the dust of the Chilean deserts, they have been battered and desiccated by the ferocious winds. Here and there across the arid landscape lie 'flishwrecks', whole flocks dropped in a small area. A flishwreck is a valuable source of nourishment to all kinds of desert-dwelling animals. The bumblebeetle, however, has evolved to rely exclusively on this food supply. Despite its ability to tolerate saltwater, it is not completely dependant on saltwater as it also tolerant to freshwater life, allowing it to adapt to live on riverbanks and freshwater lakes/rivers. The conservation status of the ocean flish **Least Concern** due to successful conservation efforts, the ocean flish's wide range, and its tolerance to most of the human activities, including being able to adapt to life in the cities and suburbs.