Blue-eyed Angelfish by GiuseppeZee on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Planet Artemis has completely different Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Northern hemisphere is covered by huge Northern Ocean and also with lot of area with temperate, suptropical and tropical zone. Southern hemisphere is mainly dry and inhospitable desert (Map of planet Artemis by GiuseppeZee on DeviantArt).

One from such large flat deserts in south is special desert Desertum Salarosum but despite no raifall for long years several (only handful) lakes and oasis exists there, where water resources from springs (water emerging from caves as described here: Maroculum Caeruleum by GiuseppeZee on DeviantArt) brings water.

One such miraculous place are lakes (like Maroculum Caeruleum on the link above), which were created at the edge of Tartaros mountains and basin of Desertum Salarosum, in places, where surface is below ground water (in depressions). Each of these lakes (they are only few) is heaven for biodiversity, which is very specific due to long isolated evolution of these lakes. Some of these lakes have even coral reefs thanks fact, that water flowing here from caves have very similar content of minerals and salt like sea water and corals were surviving here in lakes thanks water circulation millions years after ancient sea became dry.

Due to specific origin of lakes and its isolation, all of these lakes have very specific fish and other species living in it (lot of them are endemic). One from such endemic species living only in Maroculum Indicum is Blue-eyed Angelfish (Pterophyllicus azureoculus), which has very simple colors comparing to fish living in Northern Ocean or on Earth, which are colorful. This simple colors are results of fact, that lake was created in depresion, which was created only after ancient sea in this region dried up. Therefore fish, which populated lake, have not origin in ancient original sea (because they completeley dried up and lake arose only later), but they have origin in colorless fish from caves, which fed lake.