Fauna and Flora of Pandora

The following are the unique plant and animals mentioned so far in the story, I will try to update as needed. If I get something wrong, let me know and I'll fix it. - Manbear

Fauna: (in alphabetical order)

Blood eel - not an eel at all but more of an indigenous lamprey or leach that attatches itself to other sealife and slowly sucks their blood. The blood eel's teeth act as long hooks and once attatched it uses acidic digestive juices to dissolve its prey's flesh.

Dander cat- Feral terran cats that have grown bigger and fiercer in their struggle to survive in the Pandoran wilds.

Dor weasels- Small pack predators that hunt in northern Veertor tundra. Other than their size, dor weasels have little in common with their earth namesakes. Dor weasels hunt by relentlessly tracking their quarry until it drops from exhaustion. The pack works cooperatively with some members tracking the prey while other packmates rest.

Kranderkill- Large sea monsters, Kranderkill (plural is the same as singular) are the largest predators of the ocean food web. Serpentine in shape, Kranderkill range from 15-25 meters in length and about 6 meters in diameter at their thickest point. Kranderkill feed mostly on very large slow moving filter feeders.

Pandor cow - Early terran settlers often named the indigenous animals of Pandora after similar animals from Earth. The six legged placid herbivores that roamed the plains of the larger continents must have reminded enough Landers of Terran cattle that the name stuck.

Pandorwasp - Like their Terran namesakes pandorwasps are small (1-2 grams and about 2 cm in length) flying creatures that live in complex social communities with different wasps having different roles. Pandor wasps are not taken lightly by the residents of Pandora; the creatures are fiercely teritorial and have painful bites (not stings) that leave long lasting welts that often develop into shallow leasions that can take up to a month to heal.

Querel-pig - a small (4-6 kg, and 30-40 cm in length) six-legged burrowing animal native to nearly every land in Pandora. The querel-pig is notable for its scaly body much like an old earth's armadillo and its tendency to spend large periods of time in underground burrows.

Red-billed Herring gull - An indigenous sea bird known for its voracious appetite and loud squawking. Although similar in many ways to the Earth sea-gull, the herring gulls have translucent membranes for wings instead of feathers and needle-sharp teeth in their mouths.

Skreep - small elusive game birds that inhabit Veertor meadows. Skreep are notoriously difficult to hunt, but the sweet flavorful flesh is a prized by Imperial chefs.

Taper lizards - small six legged indigenous creatures whose bodies tapered gradually from a wide mouth filled with needle like teeth to a long narrow tail. One particularly nasty variety of taper lizards is a spiked variety that has three rows of five cm spikes that lie flat against the lizard's flanks unless it is startled and then they rise much like a porcupine's quills.

Veertor Hound - great war dogs bred by trainers for he Veertor army. The dogs bred from Terran pit bull stock and known for their ferocity and loyalty to their handlers. The hounds are used with great effect for crowd control and as skirmishers that flank the infantry columns of the empire.

Flora:

Blade grass - fast growing grass notable for the sharp points on the end of its leaves and the fact that it is nearly indigestible by even Pandora's indigenous herbavors, and none of the genetic modification of terran livestock were successful in making it possible fooder. Some islanders do use the grass to make rope, but difficulties in harvesting the grasses prohibit large scale production.

Calypso grass - a dangerous (and sometimes illegal) aphrodisiac from the island chain of Altiga. Calyso grass effects both males and females by reducing inhibitions and inducing psychedelic states in the users. The plant is refined by a complicated process that reduces the plant to a powder or dust that can be either sniffed directly into the nasal cavity, mixed with tobacco and smoked or dissolved in wine.

Dawn Flowers - A flower similar to Morning Glories that grow in vines all over the southern coast of Veertor and on many of the island chains along the coast. The Dawn Flower is known for its blue, white and purple blossoms that open only during the cool hours of the day and its sweet nectar. The plant was genetically designed by one of the early Landers in her spare time and released without the knowledge of the terraforming planners, as a result it has few natural competitors and has been known to cover acres of woodlands in its unchecked growth.

Prickleberries - hybrid berries that resemble a cross between rasberries/blackberries in size and flavor and a indigenous but inedible berry that has long sharp thorns. Prickleberries are bright blue in color when ripe and have a tangy-sweet flavor. The plant has spread over nearly all of Pandora and is often used to make hedges in the more dangerous parts of the planet.

Sea Apple- (sea cock). Cucumber shaped polyps that grow on seaweed off the many islands chains of Pandora. Sea apples are particularly notable for the large amount of salt free juice that each fruit contains.

Sourgrapes- Small green citrus fruits that grow well in poor island soil. Sourgrapes are rich in vitamins and keep well because of their hard rinds, therefore these fruits are popular with mariners.

Towerwood - indigenous tree similar in size to old Earth Redwoods, towerwood trees grow on hills facing prevailing tradewinds and depend on the cool wet mists to grow. Biologists suspect some of these giants are several thousand years old. Towerwood has in the past three decades become more and more valued as both Veertor and Cryn navies have begun using towerwood masts in the building of their great frigates and galleons.