Halloween Monsters! Part 5

For today's Halloween creature design post, I thought it'd be fun to post a couple of aquatic anomalies. All artwork by Stanton Fink

The Deviantart text for this first one reads:

"The Sirhibail, or "ladder bullock," a fabulous fish that can thrust its head above water to eat birds. It is surprisingly violent if approached."

And a couple more:

The Brahmamachli, and the Sivamachli, two fabulous, horned fish.

Here's a sea elephant and some tiger fish

"Lungyu, 龍魚, are a race of fish-like dragons that are protective of mortals. Different castes have different forms.

Tiger-shaped Hulungyu, 虎龍魚, are aggressive, seeking to attack evil spirits, especially those that cause fires.

The elephantine Baolungyu, 象龍魚, are enigmatic and deliberately obtuse sorcerers who weed out unworthy petitioners with flowery language. To the worthy, they teach magic secrets and bring rain."

Sea Elephant, by the way, is also the common for an adorable genus of swimming snails called Pterotrachea:

This last monster is based on a description from an actual old Bestiary:

"The Sarmatian Sea, which is otherwise called the East Germanic Sea, nourishes so many fish unknown to those who live in warm regions, so monstrous that [there is] nothing more so. Among others, there is one made exactly like a snail, but thick as a wine cask, having horns almost like those of a stag, at the end of which and on the branches of which there are little balls [or bulbs], round and lustrous, like fine pearls. It has a very thick neck,; its eyes shine like a candle, its nose is roundish and made like that of a cat, with a little bit of hair all around [it], having a very wide-slit mouth, beneath which a projection of flesh hangs on it [that is]rather hideous to see. It has four legs, and wide, hooked paws which serve it as fins, and a rather long tail, all spotted and colored in various colors, like that of a tiger. It stays out at high sea because it is timorous: for I am assured that it is amphibious, partaking of water and of land. When the weather is clear, it plants itself on the seashore, where it grazes and eats what it finds [to be] best. Its flesh is very delicate and pleasing to eat; whose blood is good for those who have diseases of the liver or lungs, as is that of the giant turtles for who are afflicted with leprosy
Ambroise Paré, On Monsters and Marvels (translated by Janis L. Pallister)"