Lampfish

Lampfish are a species of bioluminescent virid fish, found particularly in the Redeeming Ocean, in tropical waters off the east coast of Anásthiasplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnásthias

Anásthias [a-NAS-thee-ass / ænæsθiːæs], or [an-ass-THEE-as] is an equatorial island continent, heart of the Civilised World. The north straddles the equator and is hot and humid, while most of the equatorial centre is an upland plateau with fertile river valleys, and stretches of arid plains and desert in the shadow of the mountains. The south is temperate but more wild, separated from the civilisations of the north by the almost impassable HartheraOrorr. Throughout history they have been captured and used as a source of light.

Lampfish live most of their lives in single-gender shoals. When they encounter a shoal of the opposite gender they begin a courtship display, using bioluminscent dorsal cells to attract a mate. Males and females compete against the fellow members of their shoal. Males tend to have a yellow light, while females have shades of blue or greenplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGreen

The Green Kingdom of flora and fauna includes humans, mammals, birds, whales, greenfish, and most green plants and crops cultivated by humankind..

After mating, like many virid species, males carry the eggs. Males guard the spawning site until hatching. After hatching, male offspring tend to join the father's shoal, whereas females swim free and can be adopted into another shoal after performing a satisfactory light display. For this reason male shoals tend to be family groups, while female shoals are more diverse.

Females tend to be larger than males, have a more complex display and a wider variety of colours.

Lampfish were believed to have been domesticated by the ancient Miyarrain. Lampfish were popular amongst the coastal Eloyoun kingdoms, until they were conquered by Harthera. Lampfish were then almost entirely replaced with oil lamps, which were much more convenient to use, but require a more complex infrastructure to refine and distribute lamp oil.

For use as lighting, at least one male and one female are needed. Each is kept in a separate vessel filled with fresh seawater. Typically vessels are made from large thin shells, or bowls made of glass or amberglass. To 'light' a lampfish, a scoop of water would be taken from a bowl containing lampfish of the opposite gender. When the fish scent potential mates, they begin their mating light display. For domesticated fish the light lasts for about an hour, fading towards the end.

With regular feeding and replenishing the bowl regularly with fresh sea water, it is possible to keep lampfish alive for several months. However this is difficult in hot weather, and requires easy access to clean fresh sea water.

Lampfish became fashionable in the north of Harthera during the Commonwealth period, and were given as gifts and curiosities. However since that period their popularity has declined, and they are now only seen in isolated coastal communities, and in of Otekahré.