Samhghubha

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Name:  Samhghubha

Notes:  Like Merfolk and others, Samhghubha are, generally speaking, human-like from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down.  However, this particular species has a few unique traits that distinguish them from other similar species.

A Samhghubha's body is covered in a slimy film that prevents their skin from drying out.  It also aides in the prevention of bacterial infection.  Unfortunately, this slime is also very slippery and can cause a Samhghubha to have to be careful about losing their clothing, even if made specifically so as to be resistant to slipping.

Due to being unable to walk, due to their tail, Samhghubha most commonly use a wheelchair or other form of vehicular transport to get around on dry land.  Due to their cheapness and ease of replacement, basic, manual wheelchairs are highly popular.  However, thanks to the technological base of the Zodiac Empire, other transportation devices are not an uncommon sight.

Samhghubha don't have lungs.  Instead they breather water through gills, located on the middle of the sides of their torsos.  However, one can survive on land as long as the air they are breathing is moist and their gills are wet.  Still, in order to generate sounds for vocal communications, Samhghubha have specialized components in their gill structure that allow for the trapping of air that can have their flow reversed so as to generate vibration of the vocal chords.

A Samhghubha's hands have webbing between the fingers.  This is used for swimming, but isn't very helpful.  This is also true for out of the water, as the webbing prevents the wearing of anything like rings or anything that requires to pass through.  Most Samhghubha consider this very inconvenient.

The tail fin of a Samhghubha is a big mass of muscle.  They can use it to propel them up to fifty kilometers per hour.  However, this is for only over a short distance.

In addition, a Samhghubha's pelvic fins are used to control alignment while in the water.  On land, they are used to prop up the body.  They also come in handy for modesty when a Samhghubha loses their lower article of clothing, even if specially made in order to be resistant to the slippery aspects of the natural slime their bodies produce.

Unlike most fiction induced stereotypes, Samhghubha, like Merfolk and others, have no issues eating fish or other forms of sea life.  They compare this to the same way humans eat things like beef and pork.  At first, some find this misconception amusing, but they eventually grow tired of being asked over and over again.

Capable of diving quite deep, Samhghubha are naturally resistant to cooler temperatures.  Though they do enjoy hot water for various things, there are divisions among the species where different groups prefer different temperatures.  Unlike the philisophical differences between Sagittarii and Ixionidae, Samhghubha don't care about who likes to live where.  On average, though, most Samhghubha have no issues transitioning between different temperatures as situations require.

Of note, in a rare example, though the majority of Samhghubha live in the open ocean, the species has no issue with swapping between salt water and fresh water.  However, chlorine is toxic to them, mandating swimming pools to be use salt, ozone, or something else.

Currently, in the Zodiac Empire's waters, a number of Samhghubha live intermingled with other aquatic species.  Though they have their own culture, they enjoy the exploration of other cultures and try to blend the cultures they live in with what they knew back home, provided they weren't born and raised in the outside world.  Of interest, a few have even moved onto land to live and learn among land based species.  In areas where atmospheric moisture is an issue and they have to spend prolonged time away from water, they bring special hardware to keep their gills moist with them.