Nudibranch Folk Study Sketch

I need... a better name for these guys... but people are probably gonna stop noticing if it's not tagged "nudibranch". Not that I don't LIKE the name, it's just... as something much more humanoid-alien, although based on nudibranchs, I don't intend to make them entirely "accurate".

Here's some doodles from yesterday, related to the nerdibranch dork I posted the other night, and some rambling as I think out loud about what they might be like...

So far, they don't have their own world, but I'm pretty sure they don't live on some alternate Earth and live as myth-folk like the aquasapiens and the apisoids (which reproduce by assimilating humans). They are amphibious, capable of living on land and breathing in salt water. They will drown if they are trapped in fresh water.

Their height averages out at around 4ft tall. Details of their lifespan have yet to be considered, but are probably comparable to humans.

The "hair" on the head and base of the tail are harmless cerata-like growths that constantly grow. The strands themselves don't have nerves and are kind of spongy, so they are capable of being cut and shaped in a wide variety of ways. The gills down the back are retractable; when the skin is wet, certain spots on the back swell and open up into the gills. When they start to dry, they retract. The gills themselves can be smooth or feathery. Since they only require their gills underwater, they don't need to keep their skin moist. Their dry skin is soft and has a very thin layer of fuzz.

Their ears are expressive, but their antennae are even more so, being able to pull themselves close to the head to create a bulbous shape, or curling up on themselves, standing straight up, or left relaxed.

No fingernails or claws of any kind.

There's a flap of skin that drapes over the tail but fuses with the back.

As a race they are hermaphroditic, so they all have both sets of sexual organs (and lovely pear shaped figures). As they are not mammals, they do not have breasts. Self-fertilization is possible but the resulting offspring rarely survives.

Instead of laying egg ribbons, they will lay one (maybe two, rarely more) larger, translucent egg, which needs to be kept submerged in consistently warm water. Babies are born small but fully formed, and are pale or white, their adult colours (which can be pretty much anything, genetics providing) developing over time.

Their diet can consist of pretty much anything organic, although fruits, vegetables, and fish are common staples, and are often times considered the socially acceptable limits.

Due to their salty, amphibious nature and the temperature their eggs need to be kept at, they live in tropical seaside towns and rarely venture into more temperate, inland areas. Unless technology provides, of course.