The animalfish, also known as the postānūs or the great red krake, is an enormous, predatory species of krake. They are primarily deep-sea creatures, rarely seen near the ocean surface. The main quarries of the animalfish are whales and dolphins.
The Patrin revere the animalfish, calling it the “King of the Fishes”.
Babar once spied the distant, silver glimmer of an animalfish shell while traveling to Patrinor across the White Sea. Lahar, captain of the Tamarnīn, told him that the creature was likely listening for whale songs to pursue.1
Patrin tile mosaic of an animalfish
Etymology
The name animalfish is a calque of Classical Paternic postānūs, which is a combination of postān (“animal”) and nūs (“fish”).
However, the word initially had a much more apt meaning: “monsterfish”. This is because, in its original usage, the component postān meant “monster”, being a derivation of eph (“fear”).