Mundane Creature
The Coral Cat
Coral Cat
Conservation Status: Domesticated, Near Threatened in the wild
Diet: Fruits, Berries, Fish, Small amphibians, Molluscs, Crustaceans.
Characteristics
Size
The coral cat averages about 72 cm in head-to-body length and 32 cm in height, with about 32 cm long tails. Males are larger than females. Adult coral cats on average weight between 10 to 14 kg.
Fur
Female coral cats usually have a yellowish-grey fur with dark stripes and spots mostly oriented in the head-tail direction. Males are a bit more colourful, having mostly yellow-orange coloration, with little to no grey pigmentation outside their stripes. Some (around 2%) of male coral cats in the wild exhibit an orange-red fur. A very rare mutation (occurring in about 0.01% of wild males and 0.001% of wild females) causes the coats of the cats to be completely monochromatic, and about 1% of the monochromatic cats are entirely white. The fur on the belly of all coral cats without the monochromatic mutation is lighter than the fur on their backs and sides.
The coral cat fur is layered, with a short and dense layer of fur providing insulation and protection from water, and a long protruding layer of hairs growing above the shorter layer, providing the patterns and sheen of their coats.
Paws
Coral cats have fully webbed paws. Like domestic cats, coral cats too have retractable claws that they use to climb and fight. As the coral cat is larger than domestic cats, their claws are also proportionally larger, making coral cats somewhat more dangerous to humans compared to domestic cats.
Senses
Coral Cats have a second transparent eyelid that retracts over their eyes while diving. Remarkably, this transparent eyelid is able to partially filter out light of certain polarizations, reducing glare and reflections.
Coral cat night vision is relatively poor compared to the domestic cat, but they do have excellent colour vision. Their vision is not as accurate as that of humans, but it is much better than that of the domestic cat.
Vision is the primary sense used by the coral cat during hunts.
Coral cat's sense of smell is between 4-8 times as strong as a human's. The sense of smell has evolved to answer to social needs more so than hunting, and thus is excellent in recognizing and differentiating the scents of different coral cats but less so at differentiating between prey animals and their locations relative to the cat.
Coral cat hearing is similar to that of the domestic cat in every way.
Coral cats have on the average around 2400 taste receptors, giving them a sense of taste much stronger than that of domestic cats. Unlike domestic cats, coral cats are able to taste sweet.
Behaviour
Diet & Hunting
Coral cats are omnivorous, but they tend to prefer meat over plants when given a choice. Their most important sources of food are fish, crustaceans, and berries. Coral cats hunt exclusively during the midday. They hunt by diving deep under water in search of fish and crustaceans which they kill under water and carry onto the shore before eating. This is where the coral cat also gets its name.
At morning and from early evening to night coral cats forage for berries and fruits.
Reproduction & Family Units
Coral cats have menstrual cycles of roughly 42 days with a concealed ovulation. They do not have mating seasons, and are instead sexually active at all times of the year. Females remain sexually active outside of ovulation. The usual litter size for a coral cat is 1-3 kittens, which take 2.5 years to grow into adulthood. The female and her mate take care of the kittens for this entire time. The is infertile for about 3 years after giving birth, although highly stressful experiences may cause this timespan to be terminated early.
When attempting to court a female, coral cat males perform a mating dance where they stand on their hind legs and raise their paws up, in a manner a bit similar to the threat pose of a red panda. The male will then twist his body, exhibiting his agility and sense of balance, while also showing off the sheen and coloration of his fur. A receptive female will respond by rolling on her back and exposing her belly before rolling over to stand again. Exceptions to the response from receptive females occur, mostly between coral cats who already are mates. Then, the female will often playfully tackle the male while he is performing his dance, causing both of them to fall down on the ground. The couple will then proceed to playfully fight with their claws hidden as to not hurt their mate. This wrestling for dominance may last from few seconds to a few minutes, and always leads to the act of mating if not interrupted. This is one of the many ways coral cats bond with their mates.
As hinted above, coral cats mate for life, forming loose packs of 1-16 couples that share a territory. These couples are usually related to each other, but new unrelated cats do occasionally join the pack. Coral cat packs have no clear leadership structure.
A coral cat whose mate has died or disappeared will usually stop hunting in order to lie next to the corpse of their mate, or search for them throughout the areas the two had travelled. After a few weeks, the cat left alone will starve to death. If the coral cat had any kittens, they are usually adopted by one of the other couples in the pack.
Sociability
Coral cats are highly social with their mates and kittens, and somewhat social with the other cats in their pack. Most interactions with coral cats that do not belong to their pack will be hostile. The exception to this are young adult males and females who have chosen to leave their parent's pack to search for their own territory. These wanderers often band together, forming their own pack of mixed-sex cats, which in turn quite quickly turns into a pack of couples. When one of the females in these wandering bands gives birth, the rest of the band will stay with her. This way a new pseudo-sedentary pack of coral cat couples is formed.
Coral cats bond by playfighting (between mates and siblings), grooming (between packmates), and hunting together (between packmates).
Conflict
Neighbouring packs of coral cats occasionally fight each other for territory. These fights occasionally turn lethal. A coral cat will not hesitate to kill the kittens of a rival pack, given the chance.
Lifespan
Coral cats live on average for 27 years.
History of Domestication
Initially domesticated by the early Nejalite Expedition a few centuries ago. The coral cat is considered a symbol of devotion, love, loyalty, good luck and auspicious new beginnings in the Nejalite society. Monochromatic coral cats with golden, red, or white fur are seen as symbols of great fortune and as omens of benevolent natural magic.
Coral cats are capable of bonding with humans, and often do so. They like being pet and having their heads gently scratched. A coral cat who has bonded with a human will attempt to initiate playfights, and when given the chance, they will stare directly into their bonded human's eyes. For some reason, coral cats find humanoid eyes fascinating. They do not repeat this behaviour with other coral cats.