Float Like a Butterfly...

...Sting like a bee.


No real surprise to anyone, but I am an aquatic hobbyist. Save a few short years, I have kept aquaria my entire life. My passion generally sticks to high tech planted tanks and SA fishes (breeding discus is a fun adventure, every time).


Since the very first time I saw one as a child - I can't remember if it was a store, public aquarium, or even a zoo - there is a fish that has captured my interest; a creature that, while I'd always dreamed of playing steward for one, I'd laugh off just as readily and shrug "Yeah, right."


Introducing Aristotle, my Christmas-gift-to-myself.

...A juvenile Pterois volitans. The volitan lionfish. The running bet is three weeks before I do something stupid and get myself stung.


As everyone who has ever wielded a camera knows, these guys are gut-wrenchingly photogenic.

...Because posting two shots in the same style is practically against the rules.


He is also the inspiration for my next dragon. Imagine the creature as a fanciful cross between a volitan lion and a leafy see dragon, and you'll be spot on. 


(Lionfish keepers, please avoid feeding your pet goldfish/rosie reds/other cyprinids. They are high in thiaminase and are bad for your predator! Ditto with freeze dried krill, which is nutritionally sad...)


Time to go feed the lion! :D

Wormwood Greenback

Jeesh, talk about getting sidetracked! Ages and ages ago, I posted a WIP of the Greenback...


Yeah. That one.


Anywho, he stared at me from my desk, looking all sad and pathetic, for SO long that I had to break down and finish him.


And I did ^^


Introducing...

Wormwood Greenback, Absinthe greenback

Draconis absinthium

The Wormwood Greenback is native to Eurasia. It derives its name from its preferred habitat: this species is typically found inhabiting fields of Artemisia absinthium - particularily those plants being cultivated for use in procuring the Absinthe spirit. This dragon's habitat, combined with its tendency to be seen alongside a green faerie and body spines capable of injecting a hallucinogenic poison, have also earned it the common name "Absinthe Greenback". 

Unique to the Greenback are large, paddle-like feet adapted to climbing the delicate stems of the wormwood plant. It relies heavily on a long, prehensile tail to aid in climbing. Compared to other dragon species, D. absinthium has very underdeveloped wings and cannot fly long distances; its wings are primarily used as camouflage and for gliding between plants.

D. absinthium is one of the few truly omnivorous dragon species, relying on a diet of insects as well as the nectar of A. absinthium, which has led to the introduction of these dragons as a form of natural pest control by well-meaning farmers of this crop; unfortunately, this has resulted in an invasion of D. absinthium in non-native areas.

Dragonlets are a silvery grey and may sport a fine, downy hair. Adult males sport darker, richer colours than females, and the dominant male in an area will sport a violently golden belly.

While these dragons are not unfriendly, they are considered an undesirable pest.