Swamp barracuda

Swamp barracuda

(Creature)

Type

Animal
(aquatic)

CR

2

Environment

Temperate or warm marshes

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Source: Magnimar, City of Monuments, pg(s). 61

Vicious aquatic predators that hunt in many a tidal swampland, swamp barracuda can grow truly huge, far larger than their mundane cousins.

Appearance

The swamp barracuda appears quite similar to normal barracuda but with some obvious adjustments for life on land. It maintains the look of a sleek, scaled, predatory fish, but its pectoral fins are much larger, allowing it to move overland using its fins. When 'walking' using its fins and flopping its tail, it is far less graceful than underwater. Swamp barracuda can grow to up to 12 feet in length, though the average swamp barracuda is only six feet long and weighs around 60 pounds.

Habitat and ecology

Swamp barracuda are salt-water fish and tend to reside around coastal marshes, swamps, and sometimes around shallow reefs. Swamp barracuda reside in tropical and semi-tropical regions in Garund and are a particular threat in the Shackles and the Sodden Lands. In the warm summer months, they can be found as far north as the Mushfens in the Varisian Gulf. Swamp barracuda tend to be solitary creatures due to a lack of available food sources, either because the food is scarce or because the swamp barracuda has grown to such a size that the local food sources can't support more than one of them. When conditions are right, swamp barracuda gather in numbers; there have even been reports of them herding food when it is plentiful, keeping the prey together until they grow hungry again.

Abilities

Swamp barracuda are amphibious and can survive out of the water indefinitely, though they prefer not to. They also have an exceptional sense of smell and can detect blood in the water from miles away.