Ash'reem

Ash'reem are as free-spirited -promiscuous - as they are due to their low birth-rates and the need to make their species survive. Both male and female Ash'reem have a life-expectancy of 200 years. They are a new member of the United Federation of Planets, first contact being made in 2309 by the USS Illithid in 2309. In hopes to procuring assistance for the survival of their kind, they have sought to enlist people in Starfleet and assisted in many scientific fields to show their good will. The USS Theurgy had been fitted with residential pool in one of the Senior Staff quarters in order to host the Neotin family.

Almost extinct, this very rare Warp-capable species of amphibious frog people does not only have so low birth-rates that they may only spawn one child every 100 years, but their planet is dying too - the waters being corrupted by the minerals released from the underwater volcanoes and earthquakes that tear the bottom of the sea apart. Their shore-outposts and underwater cities are slowly coming to ruin.

Physiology

Their skin is naturally warm and moist. They retain water with their skin and hair in order to survive out of the water for extended periods of time. Prolonged dehydration is fatal.

All Ashreem have six webbed fingers, four regular ones and two thumbs, one on either side of the main four. At the centre of the palm of an Ash'reem, a secretion duck synthesizes and secretes a thick paste that encourages cellular regeneration and growth, well acting as an anti-inflammatory agent and antibiotic. This is a key component to their long life-expectancy, where they use the paste to regenerate each other.

Ash'reem bones are naturally hollow and soft, only being comprised one fourth by actual bone the rest being cartilage. This makes Ash'reem extremely flexible yet sometimes seen as clumsy when walking, often seeming to sway slightly on their legs but are exceptionally graceful in the water - seeming to fly more then swim.

They have pheromone ducts underneath their arms, three on each side, where the top one emanates their own feelings and the other two are sensitive receptors that picks up on the environment around them. That is why they wear plastic bio-wraps underneath their uniforms, to suppress the full effect and not disturb other personnel on a starship too much by projecting their feelings and state-of-mind upon others.

Both male and female Ash'reem exhibit hair on their heads but no where else in their bodies. Ash'reem hair serves a function of water retention, readily absorbing water into itself and holding onto it slowly feeding it into the scalp to replenish lost fluids. Their hair's silk like feel assists in retaining water around their scalp and absorbing it from their environment, allowing for long trips out of the water. However most Ash'reem require a bath or shower at least once every fourteen hours if remain healthy, dehydration sets in after thirty six hours.

Ash'reem eyes are always exceptionally large, as they evolved to live and hunt in dark waters. Ash'reem eyes vary in colour although green is the most common. They have to use goggles in light environments since they live in the dark waters normally. Prolonged exposure to bright light might damage their eyes permanently.

They have no true ears, instead having an external tympanum that covers where a human ear would be and more delicate inner ears to discern subtle notes within the greater sound. Ashreem communicate amongst themselves with their pheromones and body language more than words. Although they are fully capable of communicating verbally, as in using Federation Standard, they find it awkward at times. Their natural spoken language is in the range of infrasonic waves that are inaudible to many other races.

Ash'reem lack teeth as most would consider them, instead having a stretching tongue and rough muscular plates inside their mouths that help grind up food. They are quite agile with their tongues and able to thrust them out of their mouths with effort, and then much like a squid can control its arms movement, it can be used to show affection. Extended, their tongues can stretch two feet. It is an evolutionary relic from a time where they used their tongues as close-quarters weapons, and they can still break bones with the impact if they thrust their tongues out - their whole gullet and chest supporting the oral attack.