Aquatic Kandra

[Seeker861]

Could a Kandra form gills or breathe like frogs do? If they can survive underwater could they become something like a jellyfish or octopus and remove the need for bones to create a moving body?

[AbsentKeeper]

1 hour ago, Seeker861 said:

Could a Kandra form gills or breathe like frogs do? If they can survive underwater could they become something like a jellyfish or octopus and remove the need for bones to create a moving body?

Youre not the only one that wants to know.

I added something very similar to the 'Ultimate list of questions for Brandon' not too long ago, specifically asking about gills and venom glands, but no one has asked him yet.

Here's the other thread I've seen about what kandra are capable of making:

 

Edited September 24, 2017 by Cowmanthethird

[17th Splinter]

I believe that they could. Similarly to Orerseur (sp) making vocal cords on a dog, a kandra should be able to eat a fish and then create gills. If they were to be a fish though they would need to keep the scales. Not sure about a jellyfish however.

[ForcesOfNoodles]

We know from BoM that they can imitate animals, so I don't see why not.

[AbsentKeeper]

37 minutes ago, ForcesOfNoodles said:

We know from BoM that they can imitate animals, so I don't see why not.

I think the problem is that we've only seen them imitate mammals.

Gill fillaments in fish are a completely different type of organic structure than either flesh (which they make, of course) or bones and hair (which they can't). Same thing with my previous question about whether they are capable of producing toxins, they are a completely different type of organic liquid than something like blood. (Depending on the type, toxins are more similar to either proteins, or nervous system inhibitors.)

[Faceless Mist-Wraith]

I personally believe that they would be able to do achieve this, though it would require a Kandra to digest an aquatic specimen first, since they would be dealing with organic structures that they would initially be unfamiliar with.

[Fourth Of The Night]

14 hours ago, Cowmanthethird said:

Gill fillaments in fish are a completely different type of organic structure than either flesh (which they make, of course) or bones and hair (which they can't). Same thing with my previous question about whether they are capable of producing toxins, they are a completely different type of organic liquid than something like blood. (Depending on the type, toxins are more similar to either proteins, or nervous system inhibitors.)

Gills are as complex as lungs, so I would say that after digesting gills a Kandra would be able to replicate them. Since hair cannot be replicated, I would say that venoms couldn't be, as they are also proteins. Now, I believe that a Kandra could store venom that was harvested from a live specimin and use it, provided that they have access to a delivery method such as hollow fangs. I'm sure they could use a truebody made specifically for this purpose and have claws or other structures that delivered the venom.

 

Also hi, first comment!

[AbsentKeeper]

57 minutes ago, Fourth Of The Night said:

Gills are as complex as lungs, so I would say that after digesting gills a Kandra would be able to replicate them. Since hair cannot be replicated, I would say that venoms couldn't be, as they are also proteins. Now, I believe that a Kandra could store venom that was harvested from a live specimin and use it, provided that they have access to a delivery method such as hollow fangs. I'm sure they could use a truebody made specifically for this purpose and have claws or other structures that delivered the venom.

 

Also hi, first comment!

These are really good points, I didn't even consider that hair is also made of protiens. However, other types of protiens are necessary for muscle function in humans though, so either the kandra can produce those ones (which would mean its something specific about hair, nails, and bone other than physical makeup) or they have a completely unique internal body chemistry.

Perhaps it's as simple as the fact that bones, nails and hair aren't dissolved by their body, so they can't 'learn' the structure.

Great points for a first post, you should go post a topic in the inroduction forums, people will offer you cookies and upvotes just for being new 

[Fourth Of The Night]

20 minutes ago, Cowmanthethird said:

However, other types of protiens are necessary for muscle function in humans though, so either the kandra can produce those ones (which would mean its something specific about hair, nails, and bone other than physical makeup) or they have a completely unique internal body chemistry.

Perhaps it's as simple as the fact that bones, nails and hair aren't dissolved by their body, so they can't 'learn' the structure.

Great points for a first post, you should go post a topic in the inroduction forums, people will offer you cookies and upvotes just for being new 

For the muscles-I imagine they can just produce and use their own-since the Kandra are literally just immortal muscle filled sacs, essentially. Everything that a Kandra can form can actually be formed by just rearranging the cells of their body: Organs are just layers of tissues, which are in turn just layers of different kinds of cells. It seems that they can mimic these tissues, but not the actual function of the tissues themselves. So, they could make skin with hair follicles to hold hair that was already made, but they cannot actually produce hair because they do not have the genes required for the 'machinery' that actually does the keratin production.

 

Thank you for the props! My degree is in biochemistry, so I nerd out about this stuff a lot, and happen to LOVE the Kandra.

Edited September 25, 2017 by Fourth Of The Night
Clarification

[AbsentKeeper]

16 minutes ago, Fourth Of The Night said:

For the muscles-I imagine they can just produce and use their own-since the Kandra are literally just immortal muscle filled sacs, essentially. Everything that a Kandra can form can actually be formed by just rearranging the cells of their body: Organs are just layers of tissues, which are in turn just layers of different kinds of cells. It seems that they can mimic these tissues, but not the actual function of the tissues themselves. So, they could make skin with hair follicles to hold hair that was already made, but they cannot actually produce hair because they do not have the genes required for the 'machinery' that actually does the keratin production.

 

Thank you for the props! My degree is in biochemistry, so I nerd out about this stuff a lot, and happen to LOVE the Kandra.

With a degree in biochemistry, maybe this makes a lot more sense than it does to me 

They can't just be incapable of making all protiens, then they would have to constantly consume human beings to keep their muscles moving, brain chemistry in balance, and other important functions, right? This means, to me, that there is something specific about keratin, since its the only confirmed substance so far that they can't make.

[Seeker861]

Quote

On 9/24/2017 at 0:51 PM, Cowmanthethird said:

I added something very similar to the 'Ultimate list of questions for Brandon' not too long ago, specifically asking about gills and venom glands, but no one has asked him yet.

 

Kandra obviously produce some sort of acid that they use to digest bodies so maybe they can inject that acid to create a similar effect to the venom some spiders use.

[AbsentKeeper]

Just now, Seeker861 said:

Kandra obviously produce some sort of acid that they use to digest bodies so maybe they can inject that acid to create a similar effect to the venom some spiders use.

That is... Absoultely terrifying and completely plausible.