Fauna Of Gor
Anteaters
"A great spined anteater, more than twenty feet in length, shuffled about the edges of the camp. We saw its long, thin tongue dart in and out of its mouth. The blond-haired barbarian crept closer to me. "It is harmless," I said, "unless you cross its path or disturb it." It lived on the white ants, or termites, of the vicinity, breaking apart their high, towering nests of toughened clay, some of them 35 feet in height, with its mighty claws, then darting its four-foot-long tongue, coated with adhesive saliva, among the nest's startled occupants, drawing thousands in a matter of moments into its narrow, tube like mouth." ~ Beasts of Gor, page 239~
Armored gatch
"On the floor itself are also found several varieties of animal life, in particular marsupials, such as the armored gatch, and rodents, such as slees and ground urts. Several varieties of tarsk, large and small, also inhabit this zone. More than six varieties of anteater are also found here, and more than twenty kinds of small, fleet, single-horned tabuk." ~Explorers of Gor, page 35~
Black squirrel
"In the lower branches of the "ground zone" may be found, also, small animals, such as tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels, four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling, solitary giani, tiny, cat-sized panthers, not dangerous to man." ~Beasts of Gor, page 312~
Bosk
"A huge, shambling animal, with a thick, humped neck and long, shaggy hair. It has a wide head and tiny red eyes, a fearful temper, and two long, wicked, curved and pointed horns. The horns, from tip to tip may measure two spears in length. It is for good reason the bosk is called 'The Mother of the Wagon Peoples'. " ~Nomads of Gor, page 4~
Finch
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Finch, whistling
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Fleer
"The fleer is a large, yellow, long-billed, gregarious, voracious bird of the Barres. It is sometimes also called the Cord Bird or the Maize Bird." ~Savages of Gor, page 246~
Fleer, hook-billed
"My master looked upward, at the moons. From through the trees, on the other side of the camp, came what I took to be the sound of a bird, the hook-billed, night-crying fleer, which preys on nocturnal forest urts. The cry was repeated three times." ~Slave Girl of Gor, page 117~
Fleer, long-billed
"A bird that inhabits the emergent level of the rainforests of Schendi. In the level of the emergents there live primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits."
~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Fruit tindel
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Gant, Artic
"I stepped aside to let a young girl pass, who carried two baskets of eggs, those of the migratory arctic gant. They nest in the mountaim of the Hrimgar and in steep, rocky outcroppings, called bird cliffs, found here and there jutting out of the tundra. The bird cliffs doubtless bear some geological relation to the Hrimgar chains. When such eggs are frozen they are eaten like apples." ~Beasts of Gor, page 196~
Gant, jungle
"Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders." ~Explorer of Gor, page 311~
Gant, marsh
"I heard a bird some forty or fifty yards to my right; it sounded like a marsh gant, a small, horned, web-footed aquatic fowl, broad-billed and broad-winged. Marsh girls, the daughters of rence growers, sometimes hunt them with throwing sticks." ~Raiders of Gor, page 4~
Gim, horned
"It was a small bird, about the size of a sparrow, but it looked a bit like a tiny owl, with tufts over its eyes. It was purplish. It looked at me quizzically. It was perched on some split piping." ~Captive of Gor, page 39~
Gim, lang
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Gim, yellow
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Grub borer
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Gull, Schendi
"Those are Schendi gulls," said Ulafi, pointing to birds which circled the mainmast. "They nest on land at night." ~Explorers of Gor, page 99~
Gull, vosk
"A gull of the Vosk Delta and Vosk River, it apparently has a loud or insistent cry, which is imitated by the rence people as a means of surreptitious communication at night. It's feathers are used on sheaf arrows. It winters on the prairies of the Wagon Peoples and flies north in the spring, when the ice breaks up." ~Nomads of Gor, page 137~
Herlit
"It was peeled Ka-la-na wood and, from its top, there dangled two long, narrow, yellow, black-tipped feathers, from the tail of the taloned Herlit, a large, broad-winged, carnivorous bird, sometimes in Gorean called the Sun Striker, or, more literally, though in clumsier English, Out-of-the-sun-it-strikes, presumably from its habit of making its descent and strike on prey, like the tarn, with the sun above and behind it."
~Savages of Gor, page 143~
Herlit, forest
"The first southern migrations of meadow kites," he said, "have already taken place. The migrations of the forest hurlit and the horned aim do not take place until later in the spring. This is the time that the Vosk gulls fly." ~Nomads of Gor, page 138~
Hermit
"Somewhere, far off, but carrying through the forest, was the rapid, staccato slap of the sharp beak of the yellow-breasted hermit bird, pounding into the reddish bark of the tur tree, hunting for larvae."
~Hunters of Gor, page 106~
Hook-billed Gort
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Jard
"A small scavenger bird that flies in large flocks. A flock can strip the meat from the tabuk in seconds. Found near Lydius." ~Beasts of Gor, page 139~
Lit, crested
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Lit, needle-tailed
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Mindar
"Kisu pointed overhead. "See the mindar," he said. We looked up and saw a brightly plumaged, short-winged, sharp-billed bird. It was yellow and red. "That is a forest bird," said Kisu. The mindar is adapted for short, rapid flights, almost spurts, its wings beating in sudden flurries, hurrying it from branch to branch, for camouflage in flower trees, and for drilling the bark of such trees for larvae and grubs."
~Explorers of Gor, page 282~
Parrot
"In the level of the emergents there live primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Tanagers
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Tarn
"Then I was cowering, awe-stricken, in a great winged shadow, and an immense tarn, his talons extended like gigantic steel hooks, his wings sputtering fiercely in the air, hung above me, motionless except for the beating of his wings; The tarn dropped to the roof of the cylinder and regarded us with his bright black eyes; these birds are sometimes spoken of as Brothers of the wind." ~Tarnsman of Gor, page 51~
Tarn, jungle
"A rare gloriously plumaged jungle tarn from the tropical reaches of Cartius."
~Assassin of Gor, page 368~
Tarn, racing
"The racing tarn, interestingly, is an extremely light bird; two men can lift one; even its beak is narrower and lighter than the beak of a common tarn or war tarn; its wings are commonly broader and shorter than those of other tarns, permitting a swifter take off and providing a capacity for extremely abrupt turns and shifts in flight; they cannot carry a great deal of weight and the riders, as might be expected, are small men, usually of low caste, pugnacious and aggressive." ~Assassin of Gor, page 144~
Tibit
"I heard the cry of sea birds, broad-winged gulls and the small, stick-legged tibits, pecking in the sand for tiny mollusks." ~Hunters of Gor, page 247~
Tindel - "Brightly plumaged bird living in the second level of the rainforest near Schendi."
~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Tufted fisher
"Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders. Also in the ground zone are varieties of snake, such as the ost and hith, and numerous species of insects. " ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Ul
"Also, at night, crossing the bright disks of Gor's three moons might occasionally be seen the silent, predatory shadow of the ul, a giant pterodactyl ranging far from its native swamps in the delta of the Vosk." ~Outlaw of Gor, page 26~
Umbrella
"In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the umbrella bird." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Ushindi Fisher
"His head was surmounted by an elaborate headdress, formed largely from the long, white, curling feathers of the Ushindi fisher, a long-legged, wading bird. " ~Explorers of Gor, page 326~
Tumit
- "I saw one of the tumits, a large, flightless bird whose hooked beak, as long as my forearm, attested only too clearly to its gustatory habits; I lifted my shield and grasped the long spear, but it did not turn in my direction; it passed, unaware." ~Nomads of Gor, page 2~
Veminium bird
"Perhaps in one of these times, due to no fault of Mistress he was charmed by her voice, as by the songs of the veminium bird." ~Magicians of Gor, ppage 363~
Waders, ring-necked
"Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders." Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Waders, yellow-legged
"Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Warblers
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Woodpecker
"In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the umbrella bird." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Zad
"I heard, a short time later, wings, the alighting of one or more large birds. Such birds, broad-winged, black and white, from afar, follow the marches to Klima; their beaks, yellowish, narrow, are long and slightly hooked at the end, useful for probing and tearing. The birds scattered, squawking, as a Kaiila sped past. The birds are called zads." ~Tribesmen of Gor, page 232~
Zadit
"The zadit is a small, tawny-feathered, sharp-billed bird. It feeds on insects. When sand flies and other insects, emergent after rains, infest kaiila, they frequently alight on the animals, and remain on them for some hours, hunting insects." ~Tribesmen of Gor, page 152~
Zarlit
"I did see a large, harmless zarlit fly, purple, about two feet long with four translucent wings, spanning about a yard, humming over the surface of the water, then alighting and, on its padlike feet, daintily picking its way across the surface." ~Raiders of Gor, page 5~
-Insects-
Ant, Marcher
The column of marchers was something like a yard wide. I did not know how long it might be. It extended ahead through the jungle and behind through the jungle farther than I could see in either direction. Such columns can be pasangs in length. It is difficult to conjecture the numbers that constitute such a march. Conservatively some dozens of millions might be involved. The column widens only when food is found; then it may spread as widely as five hundred feet in width.
Explorers of Gor, pages, 399-403
Arthropod
At that moment to my horror a large, perhaps eight feet long and a yard high, multi-legged, segmented arthropod scuttled near, its eyes weaving on stalks.
Priest-Kings of Gor, page 82
Gitch
"That is a roach," he said. "They are harmless, not like the gitches whose bites are rather painful. Some of them are big fellows, too. But there aren't many around. The frevets see to it. Achiates prides himself on a clean house."
Mercenaries of Gor, page 277
Golden Beetle
"What does the Golden Beetle kill?" I asked. "Priest-Kings," said the second slave." Priest-Kings of Gor, page 105. "It was about the size of a rhinoceros and the first thing I noticed after the glowing eyes were two multiply hooked, tubular, hollow, pincer like extension that met at the tips perhaps a yard beyond its body. They seemed clearly some aberrant mutation of its jaws. Its antennae, unlike those of the Priest-Kings, were very short. They curved and were tipped with a fluff of golden hair. Most strangely perhaps were several long, golden strands, almost a mane, which extended from the creatures head over its domed golden back and fell almost to the floor behind it. The back itself seemed divided into two thick casings which might once, ages before, have been horny wings, but now the tissues had, at the points of touching together, fused in such a way as to form what was for all practical purposes a thick, immobile golden shell." Priest-Kings of Gor, page 180. "The exudate which forms on the mane hairs of the Golden Beetle, which had overcome me in the close confines of the tunnel, apparently has a most intense and, to a human mind, almost incomprehensibly compelling effect on the unusually sensitive antennae of the Priest-Kings, luring them helplessly, almost as if hypnotized, to the jaws of the Beetle, who then penetrates their body with its hollow, pincer like jaws and drains its body of fluid." Priest-Kings of Gor, page 257.
Grasshopper
A grasshopper, red, the size of a horned gim, a small, owl like bird, some four ounces in weight, common in the northern latitudes, had leaped near the fire, and disappeared into the brush.
Explorers of Gor, page 293
Lice, Tarn
I withdrew some of the lice, the size of marbles, which tend to infest wild tarns, and slapped them roughly into the mouth of the tarn, wiping them off on his tongue.
Tarnsman of Gor, page 142
Needle Flies (sting flies)
Originate in the delta and similar places, sting is extremely painful but it is usually not dangerous unless inflicted in great numbers. Vagabonds of Gor, page 161
Rennel
Poisonous, crab-like desert insects. "that once an army of a thousand wagons turned aside because a swarm of rennels, poisonous, crablike desert insects, did not defend its broken nest..." Nomads of Gor, page 27.
Rock spider
They are called rock spiders because of their habit of holding their legs folded beneath them. This habit, and their size and coloration, usually brown and black, suggests a rock, and hence the name. It is a very nice piece of natural camouflage. A thing line runs from the web to the spider. When something strikes the web the tremor is transmitted by means of this line to the spider. Explorers of Gor, page 294.
Salt Leaches
"I flicked a salt leach from the side of my light rush craft with the corner of the tem-wood paddle." Raiders of Gor, page 5.
Sand flies
"Following such rains, great clouds of sand flies appear, wakened from dormancy. These feast on kaiila and men. Normally, flying insects are found only in the vicinity of the oases." Tribesmen of Gor, page 152
Scorpion
Here, too, may be found snakes and monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels, climbing, long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, and the usual varieties of insects, ants, centipedes, scorpions, beetles and flies, and so on.
Explorers of Gor, page 311
Slime Worm
Its tiny mouth on the underside of its body touched the stone flooring here and there like the poking finger of a blind man and the long, whitish, rubbery body gathered itself and pushed forward and gathered itself and pushed forward again until it lay but a yard from my sandal, almost under the shell of the slain Beetle. The Slime Worm lifted the forward portion of its long, tubular body and the tiny red mouth on its underside seemed to peer up at me. Priest-Kings of Gor page 186."We had not walked far when we passed a long, wormlike animal, eyeless, with a small red mouth, that inched its way along the corridor, hugging the angle between the wall and the floor.... "What do you call it?" I asked. "Oh," said one of the slaves, "it is a Slime Worm."... "It scavenges on the kills of the Golden Beetle..." Priest-Kings of Gor, pages 105-106.
Swamp Spiders
"Approaching me, stepping daintily for all its bulk, prancing over the strands, came one of the Swamp Spiders of Gor....and I caught sight of the mandibles, like curved knives...He then backed away from me on his eight legs...I saw then for the first time that strapped to his abdomen, was a translation device....They hunt us and leave only enough of us alive to spin the Cur-lon Fiber used in the mills of Ar." Tarnsman of Gor, pages 81-83.
Toos
I swung the transportation disk in a graceful arc to one side of the tunnel to avoid running into a crablike organism covered with overlapping plating and then swung the disk back in another sweeping arc to avoid slicing into a stalking Priest-King who lifted his antennae quizzically as we shot past. "The one who was not a Priest-King," quickly said Mul-Al-Ka, "was a Matok and is called a Toos and lives on discarded fungus spores."
Priest-Kings of Gor, page 142
Vint
I detected the odor of kort rinds, matted, drying, on the stones, where they had been scattered from my supper the evening before. Vints, insects, tiny, sand-colored, covered them.
Tribesmen of Gor, page 115
-Marine Life-
The sea sleen
vicious, fanged aquatic mammals, apparently related to the land forms of sleen, are the swiftest predators to be found in Thassa; further, they are generally conceded to be the most dangerous; they tend, however, to frequent northern waters. ~Slave Girl of Gor, page 360~
Baleen Whale
"Sometimes they managed to secure the northern shark, sometimes even the toothed Hunjer whale or the less common Karl whale, which was a four-fluked, baleen whale." ~Beasts of Gor, page 36~
Bint
"Such blood might attract the bind, a fanged, carnivorous marsh eel, or the predatory, voracious blue grunt, a small, fresh-water variety of the much larger and familiar salt-water grunt of Thassa." ~Explorers of Gor, page 247~
Cosian wingfish
"Now this," Saphrar the merchant was telling me, "is the braised liver of the blue, four-spired Cosian wingfish." This fish is a tiny, delicate fish,blue, about the size of a tarn disk when curled in one's hand; it has three or four slender spines in its dorsal fin, which are poisonous; it is capable of hurling itself from the water and for brief distances, on it stiff pectoral fins, gliding through the air, usually to evade smaller sea-tharlarians, which seem to be immune to the poison of the spines. This fish is also at times referred to as the songfish because as a portion of it's courtship rituals, the males and females thrust their heads from the water and utter a short whistling sound. The blue, four spired wingfish is found only in the waters of Cos. Larger varieties are found further out to sea. The small blue is regarded a great delicacy, and it's liver a delicacy of delicacies." ~Nomads of Gor, page 84~
Dock eel
"I looked downward. Two or more heads, tapering, menacing, solid, were emerged from the water, looking up at me. Then, striking from under the water, suddenly breaking its surface, another body, some four feet in length, about eight or ten pounds in weight, leapt upward. I felt the jaws snap and scratch against the shearing blade. Then it fell twisting back in the water. It was the blood which excited them." ~Guardsman of Gor, page 130~
Eel
"Many estates, particularly country estates, have pools in which fish are kept. Some of these pools contain voracious eels, of various sorts, river eels, black eels, the spotted eel, and such, which are Gorean delicacies. Needless to say a bound slave, cast into such a pool, will be eaten alive." ~Magicians of Gor, page 428~
Gint
"I recalled, sunning themselves on exposed roots near the river, tiny fish. They were bulbous eyed and about six inches long, with tiny flipper like lateral fins. They had both lungs and gills. Their capacity to leave the water, in certain small streams, during dry seasons, enables them to seek other streams, still flowing, or pools. These tiny fish, incidentally, are called gints." ~Explorers of Gor, page 300~
Gint, giant
"The creature which had surfaced near us, perhaps ten feet in length, and a thousand pounds in weight, was scaled and had large, bulging eyes. It had gills, but it, too, gulped air, as it had regarded us. It was similar to the tiny lung fish I had seen earlier on the river, those little creatures clinging to the half-submerged roots of shore trees, and, as often as not, sunning themselves on the backs of tharlarion, those tiny fish called gints. Its pectoral fins were large and fleshy." ~Explorers of Gor, page 384~
Grunt, blue
"Such blood might attract the bind, a fanged, carnivorous marsh eel, or the predatory, voracious blue grunt, a small, fresh-water variety of the much larger and familiar salt-water grunt of Thassa. The blue grunt is particularly dangerous during the daylight hours preceding its mating periods, when it schools. Its mating periods are synchronized with the phases of Gor's major moon, the full moon reflecting on the surface of the water somehow triggering the mating instinct. During the daylight hours preceding such a moon, as the restless grunts school, they will tear anything edible to pieces which crosses their path." ~Explorers of Gor, page 267~
Grunt, speckled
- "I saw a great speckled grunt, four-gilled." ~Explorers of Gor, page 360~
Grunt, white bellied
"Three other men of the Forkbeard attended to fishing, two with a net, sweeping it along the side of the serpent, for parsit fish, and the third, near the stem, with a hook and line, baited with vulo liver, for the white-bellied grunt." ~Marauders of Gor, page 59~
Hook-billed turtle
"Indeed, it was unlikely that my body would reach the delta at all. It was far more likely that one of the water lizards of the Vosk or one of the great hook-beaked turtles of the river would seize my body and drag it and the frame under the water, destroying me in the mud below." ~Tarnsman of Gor, page 138~
Hunjer Long Whale
"That scent, I knew, a distillation of a hundred flowers, nurtured like a priceless wine, was a secret guarded by the perfumers of Ar. It contained as well the separated oil of the Thentis needle tree; an extract from the glands of the Cartius river urt; and a preparation formed from a disease calculus scraped from the intestines of the rare Hunjer Long Whale" ~Marauders of Gor, page 114~
Karl Whale
"Sometimes they managed to secure the northern shark, sometimes even the toothed Hunjer whale or the less common Karl whale, which was a four-fluked, baleen whale." ~Beasts of Gor, page 6~
Leach, salt
"I flicked a salt leach from the side of the light rush craft with the corner of the tem-wood paddle." ~Raiders of Gor, page 5~
Leech, marsh
"Described as rubbery about 4 inches long; it attaches itself to plants in the marsh or float free in the water, waiting for warm blooded animals. They fasten themselves to their victim to suck blood until, satiated, they detach. They can be removed with fire or salt. They are edible." ~Vagabonds of Gor, page 96-102~
Lelt
"Lelts are often attracted to the salt rafts, by their abnormally developed lateral-line protrusions, and their fernlike cranial vibration receptors; The tiny, eyeless heads will thrust from the water, and the fernlike filaments at the side of the head will open and lift, The lelt is commonly five to seven inches in length. It is white, and long-finned. It swims slowly and smoothly " ~Tribesmen of Gor, page 247~
Lung
"Also called gints; small fish found near half-submerged roots of shore trees or sunning on the back of tharlarion." ~Explorer of Gor, page 384~
Marine saurian
"Sharks, and sometimes marine saurians, sometimes trail the ships, to secure discarded garbage and rob the lines of the fishermen. I had seen, yesterday, the long neck of a marine saurian lift from the waters of gleaming Thassa. It had a small head, and rows of small teeth. Its appendages ere like broad paddles. Then it had lowered its head and disappeared. Such beasts, in spite of their frightening appearance, are apparently harmless to men. They can take only bits of garbage and small fish." ~Slave Girl of Gor, page 60
Marsh moccasin
"Narrow dark, poisonous snake about five feet long with a small triangular head. It inhabits the waters of the Vosk Delta." ~Vagabonds of Gor, page 267~ Mollusks - "I could hear the cry of sea birds, broad winged gulls, and the small, stick-legged tibits, pecking in the sand for tiny mollusks." ~Hunters of Gor, page 247~
Oysters
"Other girls had prepared the repast, which, for the war camp, was sumptuous indeed, containing even oysters from the delta of the Vosk, a portion of the plunder of a tarn caravan of Ar, such delicacies having been intended for the very table of Marlenus, the Ubar of that great city itself." ~Captive of Gor, page 301~
Parsit
"The slender, striped parsit fish has vast plankton banks north of the town and may there, particularly in the spring and fall be taken in great numbers; Trade to the south, of course, is largely in the furs acquired from Torvaldsland, and in the barrels of smoked, dried parsit fish." ~Marauders of Gor, page 28~
River Urt, Cartius
"That scent, I knew, a distillation of a hundred flowers, nurtured like a priceless wine, was a secret guarded by the perfumers of Ar. It contained as well the separated oil of the Thentis needle tree; an extract from the glands of the Cartius river urt; and a preparation formed from a disease calculus scraped from the intestines of the rare Hunjer Long Whale" ~ Marauders of Gor, page 114~
Shark, marsh
"Beyond them would be the almost eel-like, long-bodied, nine-gilled Gorean marsh sharks." ~Raiders of Gor, page 58~
Shark, northern
"Sometimes they managed to secure the northern shark, sometimes even the toothed Hunjer whale or the less common Karl whale, which was a four-fluked, baleen whale. But their life, at best, was a precarious one." ~Explorers of Gor, page 36~
Shark, river
"Something, with a twist of its great spine, had suddenly darted from the waters under the pier and entered the current of the Laurius. I saw the flash of a triangular, black dorsal fin. I screamed. Lana looked out, pointing after it. "A river shark," she cried, excitedly." ~Captive of Gor, page 79~
Shark, salt
"We saw the broad, blunt head, eyeless, white. Then it submerged, with a twist of the long spine and tail. The waters were still. At the top of the food chain in the pits, a descendant, dark-adapted, of the terrors of the ancient seas, stood the long-bodied, nine-gilled salt shark. The head was more than a yard in width, white pits where there might have been eyes. The raft tipped, struck by its back, as it turned and, twisting, glided away into the darkness." ~Tribesmen of Gor, page 251~
Shark, white
"There is also, however, some danger in this, for sea sleen and the white sharks of the north occasionally attempt to tear such a girl off the oar." ~Marauders of Gor, page 66~
Sea sleen
"The sea sleen, vicious, fanged aquatic mammals, apparently related to the land forms of sleen, are the swiftest predators to be found in Thassa; further, they are generally conceded to be the most dangerous; they tend, however, to frequent northern waters. Occasionally they have been found as far south, however, as the shores of Cos and the deep inlets of Tyros." ~Slave Girl of Gor, page 360~
Sea sleen, black
"Sleen, interestingly, come northward with the parsit. their own migrations synchronized with those of the parsit, which forms for them their principal prey. The four main types of sea sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen." ~Beasts of Gor, pg 36~
Sea sleen, brown
"Sleen, interestingly, come northward with the parsit. their own migrations synchronized with those of the parsit, which forms for them their principal prey. The four main types of sea sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen." ~Beasts of Gor, pg 36~
Sea sleen, flat-nosed
"Sleen, interestingly, come northward with the parsit. their own migrations synchronized with those of the parsit, which forms for them their principal prey. The four main types of sea sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen." ~Beasts of Gor, pg 36~
Sea sleen, tusked
"Sleen, interestingly, come northward with the parsit. their own migrations synchronized with those of the parsit, which forms for them their principal prey. The four main types of sea sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen." ~Beasts of Gor, pg 36~
Snails
"Once the Forkbeard went to her and taught her to check the scoop, with her left hand, for snails, that they not be thrown overboard. Returning to me he held one of the snails, whose shell he crushed between his fingers, and sucked out the animal, chewing and swallowing it. He then threw the shell fragments overboard. "They are edible," he said. "And we use them for fish bait." ~Marauders of Gor, page 62~
Tharlarion, tiny water
"Immediately following I saw the water seem to glitter for a moment, a rain of yellowish streaks beneath the surface, in the wake of the water tharlarion, doubtless its swarm of scavengers, tiny water tharlarion, about six inches long, little more than teeth and tail." ~Raiders of Gor, page 1~
Tharlarion, marsh
"Marsh thalarion: I heard the hoarse grunting of the great march thalarion weighing more than half a hundred men. " ~Raiders of Gor, page 58~
Water lizards
"Idly, with repulsion, I watched the body of the tharlarion in the swamp. As the water lizards fed, the carcus, lightened, had shifted, rolling in the water. Now, in a matter of moments, the skeleton was visible, picked almost clean, the bones glistening, except where small lizards skittered about on them, seeking the last particles of flesh." ~Tarnsman of Gor, page 86~
"A great spined anteater, more than twenty feet in length, shuffled about the edges of the camp. We saw its long, thin tongue dart in and out of its mouth. The blond-haired barbarian crept closer to me. "It is harmless," I said, "unless you cross its path or disturb it." It lived on the white ants, or termites, of the vicinity, breaking apart their high, towering nests of toughened clay, some of them 35 feet in height, with its mighty claws, then darting its four-foot-long tongue, coated with adhesive saliva, among the nest's startled occupants, drawing thousands in a matter of moments into its narrow, tube like mouth." ~ Beasts of Gor, page 239~
Armored gatch
"On the floor itself are also found several varieties of animal life, in particular marsupials, such as the armored gatch, and rodents, such as slees and ground urts. Several varieties of tarsk, large and small, also inhabit this zone. More than six varieties of anteater are also found here, and more than twenty kinds of small, fleet, single-horned tabuk." ~Explorers of Gor, page 35~
Black squirrel
"In the lower branches of the "ground zone" may be found, also, small animals, such as tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels, four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling, solitary giani, tiny, cat-sized panthers, not dangerous to man." ~Beasts of Gor, page 312~
Bosk
"A huge, shambling animal, with a thick, humped neck and long, shaggy hair. It has a wide head and tiny red eyes, a fearful temper, and two long, wicked, curved and pointed horns. The horns, from tip to tip may measure two spears in length. It is for good reason the bosk is called 'The Mother of the Wagon Peoples'. " ~Nomads of Gor, page 4~
Finch
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Finch, whistling
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Fleer
"The fleer is a large, yellow, long-billed, gregarious, voracious bird of the Barres. It is sometimes also called the Cord Bird or the Maize Bird." ~Savages of Gor, page 246~
Fleer, hook-billed
"My master looked upward, at the moons. From through the trees, on the other side of the camp, came what I took to be the sound of a bird, the hook-billed, night-crying fleer, which preys on nocturnal forest urts. The cry was repeated three times." ~Slave Girl of Gor, page 117~
Fleer, long-billed
"A bird that inhabits the emergent level of the rainforests of Schendi. In the level of the emergents there live primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits."
~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Fruit tindel
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Gant, Artic
"I stepped aside to let a young girl pass, who carried two baskets of eggs, those of the migratory arctic gant. They nest in the mountaim of the Hrimgar and in steep, rocky outcroppings, called bird cliffs, found here and there jutting out of the tundra. The bird cliffs doubtless bear some geological relation to the Hrimgar chains. When such eggs are frozen they are eaten like apples." ~Beasts of Gor, page 196~
Gant, jungle
"Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders." ~Explorer of Gor, page 311~
Gant, marsh
"I heard a bird some forty or fifty yards to my right; it sounded like a marsh gant, a small, horned, web-footed aquatic fowl, broad-billed and broad-winged. Marsh girls, the daughters of rence growers, sometimes hunt them with throwing sticks." ~Raiders of Gor, page 4~
Gim, horned
"It was a small bird, about the size of a sparrow, but it looked a bit like a tiny owl, with tufts over its eyes. It was purplish. It looked at me quizzically. It was perched on some split piping." ~Captive of Gor, page 39~
Gim, lang
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Gim, yellow
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Grub borer
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Gull, Schendi
"Those are Schendi gulls," said Ulafi, pointing to birds which circled the mainmast. "They nest on land at night." ~Explorers of Gor, page 99~
Gull, vosk
"A gull of the Vosk Delta and Vosk River, it apparently has a loud or insistent cry, which is imitated by the rence people as a means of surreptitious communication at night. It's feathers are used on sheaf arrows. It winters on the prairies of the Wagon Peoples and flies north in the spring, when the ice breaks up." ~Nomads of Gor, page 137~
Herlit
"It was peeled Ka-la-na wood and, from its top, there dangled two long, narrow, yellow, black-tipped feathers, from the tail of the taloned Herlit, a large, broad-winged, carnivorous bird, sometimes in Gorean called the Sun Striker, or, more literally, though in clumsier English, Out-of-the-sun-it-strikes, presumably from its habit of making its descent and strike on prey, like the tarn, with the sun above and behind it."
~Savages of Gor, page 143~
Herlit, forest
"The first southern migrations of meadow kites," he said, "have already taken place. The migrations of the forest hurlit and the horned aim do not take place until later in the spring. This is the time that the Vosk gulls fly." ~Nomads of Gor, page 138~
Hermit
"Somewhere, far off, but carrying through the forest, was the rapid, staccato slap of the sharp beak of the yellow-breasted hermit bird, pounding into the reddish bark of the tur tree, hunting for larvae."
~Hunters of Gor, page 106~
Hook-billed Gort
"In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Jard
"A small scavenger bird that flies in large flocks. A flock can strip the meat from the tabuk in seconds. Found near Lydius." ~Beasts of Gor, page 139~
Lit, crested
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Lit, needle-tailed
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Mindar
"Kisu pointed overhead. "See the mindar," he said. We looked up and saw a brightly plumaged, short-winged, sharp-billed bird. It was yellow and red. "That is a forest bird," said Kisu. The mindar is adapted for short, rapid flights, almost spurts, its wings beating in sudden flurries, hurrying it from branch to branch, for camouflage in flower trees, and for drilling the bark of such trees for larvae and grubs."
~Explorers of Gor, page 282~
Parrot
"In the level of the emergents there live primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Tanagers
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Tarn
"Then I was cowering, awe-stricken, in a great winged shadow, and an immense tarn, his talons extended like gigantic steel hooks, his wings sputtering fiercely in the air, hung above me, motionless except for the beating of his wings; The tarn dropped to the roof of the cylinder and regarded us with his bright black eyes; these birds are sometimes spoken of as Brothers of the wind." ~Tarnsman of Gor, page 51~
Tarn, jungle
"A rare gloriously plumaged jungle tarn from the tropical reaches of Cartius."
~Assassin of Gor, page 368~
Tarn, racing
"The racing tarn, interestingly, is an extremely light bird; two men can lift one; even its beak is narrower and lighter than the beak of a common tarn or war tarn; its wings are commonly broader and shorter than those of other tarns, permitting a swifter take off and providing a capacity for extremely abrupt turns and shifts in flight; they cannot carry a great deal of weight and the riders, as might be expected, are small men, usually of low caste, pugnacious and aggressive." ~Assassin of Gor, page 144~
Tibit
"I heard the cry of sea birds, broad-winged gulls and the small, stick-legged tibits, pecking in the sand for tiny mollusks." ~Hunters of Gor, page 247~
Tindel - "Brightly plumaged bird living in the second level of the rainforest near Schendi."
~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Tufted fisher
"Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders. Also in the ground zone are varieties of snake, such as the ost and hith, and numerous species of insects. " ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Ul
"Also, at night, crossing the bright disks of Gor's three moons might occasionally be seen the silent, predatory shadow of the ul, a giant pterodactyl ranging far from its native swamps in the delta of the Vosk." ~Outlaw of Gor, page 26~
Umbrella
"In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the umbrella bird." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Ushindi Fisher
"His head was surmounted by an elaborate headdress, formed largely from the long, white, curling feathers of the Ushindi fisher, a long-legged, wading bird. " ~Explorers of Gor, page 326~
Tumit
- "I saw one of the tumits, a large, flightless bird whose hooked beak, as long as my forearm, attested only too clearly to its gustatory habits; I lifted my shield and grasped the long spear, but it did not turn in my direction; it passed, unaware." ~Nomads of Gor, page 2~
Veminium bird
"Perhaps in one of these times, due to no fault of Mistress he was charmed by her voice, as by the songs of the veminium bird." ~Magicians of Gor, ppage 363~
Waders, ring-necked
"Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders." Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Waders, yellow-legged
"Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Warblers
"In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Woodpecker
"In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the umbrella bird." ~Explorers of Gor, page 311~
Zad
"I heard, a short time later, wings, the alighting of one or more large birds. Such birds, broad-winged, black and white, from afar, follow the marches to Klima; their beaks, yellowish, narrow, are long and slightly hooked at the end, useful for probing and tearing. The birds scattered, squawking, as a Kaiila sped past. The birds are called zads." ~Tribesmen of Gor, page 232~
Zadit
"The zadit is a small, tawny-feathered, sharp-billed bird. It feeds on insects. When sand flies and other insects, emergent after rains, infest kaiila, they frequently alight on the animals, and remain on them for some hours, hunting insects." ~Tribesmen of Gor, page 152~
Zarlit
"I did see a large, harmless zarlit fly, purple, about two feet long with four translucent wings, spanning about a yard, humming over the surface of the water, then alighting and, on its padlike feet, daintily picking its way across the surface." ~Raiders of Gor, page 5~
-Insects-
Ant, Marcher
The column of marchers was something like a yard wide. I did not know how long it might be. It extended ahead through the jungle and behind through the jungle farther than I could see in either direction. Such columns can be pasangs in length. It is difficult to conjecture the numbers that constitute such a march. Conservatively some dozens of millions might be involved. The column widens only when food is found; then it may spread as widely as five hundred feet in width.
Explorers of Gor, pages, 399-403
Arthropod
At that moment to my horror a large, perhaps eight feet long and a yard high, multi-legged, segmented arthropod scuttled near, its eyes weaving on stalks.
Priest-Kings of Gor, page 82
Gitch
"That is a roach," he said. "They are harmless, not like the gitches whose bites are rather painful. Some of them are big fellows, too. But there aren't many around. The frevets see to it. Achiates prides himself on a clean house."
Mercenaries of Gor, page 277
Golden Beetle
"What does the Golden Beetle kill?" I asked. "Priest-Kings," said the second slave." Priest-Kings of Gor, page 105. "It was about the size of a rhinoceros and the first thing I noticed after the glowing eyes were two multiply hooked, tubular, hollow, pincer like extension that met at the tips perhaps a yard beyond its body. They seemed clearly some aberrant mutation of its jaws. Its antennae, unlike those of the Priest-Kings, were very short. They curved and were tipped with a fluff of golden hair. Most strangely perhaps were several long, golden strands, almost a mane, which extended from the creatures head over its domed golden back and fell almost to the floor behind it. The back itself seemed divided into two thick casings which might once, ages before, have been horny wings, but now the tissues had, at the points of touching together, fused in such a way as to form what was for all practical purposes a thick, immobile golden shell." Priest-Kings of Gor, page 180. "The exudate which forms on the mane hairs of the Golden Beetle, which had overcome me in the close confines of the tunnel, apparently has a most intense and, to a human mind, almost incomprehensibly compelling effect on the unusually sensitive antennae of the Priest-Kings, luring them helplessly, almost as if hypnotized, to the jaws of the Beetle, who then penetrates their body with its hollow, pincer like jaws and drains its body of fluid." Priest-Kings of Gor, page 257.
Grasshopper
A grasshopper, red, the size of a horned gim, a small, owl like bird, some four ounces in weight, common in the northern latitudes, had leaped near the fire, and disappeared into the brush.
Explorers of Gor, page 293
Lice, Tarn
I withdrew some of the lice, the size of marbles, which tend to infest wild tarns, and slapped them roughly into the mouth of the tarn, wiping them off on his tongue.
Tarnsman of Gor, page 142
Needle Flies (sting flies)
Originate in the delta and similar places, sting is extremely painful but it is usually not dangerous unless inflicted in great numbers. Vagabonds of Gor, page 161
Rennel
Poisonous, crab-like desert insects. "that once an army of a thousand wagons turned aside because a swarm of rennels, poisonous, crablike desert insects, did not defend its broken nest..." Nomads of Gor, page 27.
Rock spider
They are called rock spiders because of their habit of holding their legs folded beneath them. This habit, and their size and coloration, usually brown and black, suggests a rock, and hence the name. It is a very nice piece of natural camouflage. A thing line runs from the web to the spider. When something strikes the web the tremor is transmitted by means of this line to the spider. Explorers of Gor, page 294.
Salt Leaches
"I flicked a salt leach from the side of my light rush craft with the corner of the tem-wood paddle." Raiders of Gor, page 5.
Sand flies
"Following such rains, great clouds of sand flies appear, wakened from dormancy. These feast on kaiila and men. Normally, flying insects are found only in the vicinity of the oases." Tribesmen of Gor, page 152
Scorpion
Here, too, may be found snakes and monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels, climbing, long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, and the usual varieties of insects, ants, centipedes, scorpions, beetles and flies, and so on.
Explorers of Gor, page 311
Slime Worm
Its tiny mouth on the underside of its body touched the stone flooring here and there like the poking finger of a blind man and the long, whitish, rubbery body gathered itself and pushed forward and gathered itself and pushed forward again until it lay but a yard from my sandal, almost under the shell of the slain Beetle. The Slime Worm lifted the forward portion of its long, tubular body and the tiny red mouth on its underside seemed to peer up at me. Priest-Kings of Gor page 186."We had not walked far when we passed a long, wormlike animal, eyeless, with a small red mouth, that inched its way along the corridor, hugging the angle between the wall and the floor.... "What do you call it?" I asked. "Oh," said one of the slaves, "it is a Slime Worm."... "It scavenges on the kills of the Golden Beetle..." Priest-Kings of Gor, pages 105-106.
Swamp Spiders
"Approaching me, stepping daintily for all its bulk, prancing over the strands, came one of the Swamp Spiders of Gor....and I caught sight of the mandibles, like curved knives...He then backed away from me on his eight legs...I saw then for the first time that strapped to his abdomen, was a translation device....They hunt us and leave only enough of us alive to spin the Cur-lon Fiber used in the mills of Ar." Tarnsman of Gor, pages 81-83.
Toos
I swung the transportation disk in a graceful arc to one side of the tunnel to avoid running into a crablike organism covered with overlapping plating and then swung the disk back in another sweeping arc to avoid slicing into a stalking Priest-King who lifted his antennae quizzically as we shot past. "The one who was not a Priest-King," quickly said Mul-Al-Ka, "was a Matok and is called a Toos and lives on discarded fungus spores."
Priest-Kings of Gor, page 142
Vint
I detected the odor of kort rinds, matted, drying, on the stones, where they had been scattered from my supper the evening before. Vints, insects, tiny, sand-colored, covered them.
Tribesmen of Gor, page 115
-Marine Life-
The sea sleen
vicious, fanged aquatic mammals, apparently related to the land forms of sleen, are the swiftest predators to be found in Thassa; further, they are generally conceded to be the most dangerous; they tend, however, to frequent northern waters. ~Slave Girl of Gor, page 360~
Baleen Whale
"Sometimes they managed to secure the northern shark, sometimes even the toothed Hunjer whale or the less common Karl whale, which was a four-fluked, baleen whale." ~Beasts of Gor, page 36~
Bint
"Such blood might attract the bind, a fanged, carnivorous marsh eel, or the predatory, voracious blue grunt, a small, fresh-water variety of the much larger and familiar salt-water grunt of Thassa." ~Explorers of Gor, page 247~
Cosian wingfish
"Now this," Saphrar the merchant was telling me, "is the braised liver of the blue, four-spired Cosian wingfish." This fish is a tiny, delicate fish,blue, about the size of a tarn disk when curled in one's hand; it has three or four slender spines in its dorsal fin, which are poisonous; it is capable of hurling itself from the water and for brief distances, on it stiff pectoral fins, gliding through the air, usually to evade smaller sea-tharlarians, which seem to be immune to the poison of the spines. This fish is also at times referred to as the songfish because as a portion of it's courtship rituals, the males and females thrust their heads from the water and utter a short whistling sound. The blue, four spired wingfish is found only in the waters of Cos. Larger varieties are found further out to sea. The small blue is regarded a great delicacy, and it's liver a delicacy of delicacies." ~Nomads of Gor, page 84~
Dock eel
"I looked downward. Two or more heads, tapering, menacing, solid, were emerged from the water, looking up at me. Then, striking from under the water, suddenly breaking its surface, another body, some four feet in length, about eight or ten pounds in weight, leapt upward. I felt the jaws snap and scratch against the shearing blade. Then it fell twisting back in the water. It was the blood which excited them." ~Guardsman of Gor, page 130~
Eel
"Many estates, particularly country estates, have pools in which fish are kept. Some of these pools contain voracious eels, of various sorts, river eels, black eels, the spotted eel, and such, which are Gorean delicacies. Needless to say a bound slave, cast into such a pool, will be eaten alive." ~Magicians of Gor, page 428~
Gint
"I recalled, sunning themselves on exposed roots near the river, tiny fish. They were bulbous eyed and about six inches long, with tiny flipper like lateral fins. They had both lungs and gills. Their capacity to leave the water, in certain small streams, during dry seasons, enables them to seek other streams, still flowing, or pools. These tiny fish, incidentally, are called gints." ~Explorers of Gor, page 300~
Gint, giant
"The creature which had surfaced near us, perhaps ten feet in length, and a thousand pounds in weight, was scaled and had large, bulging eyes. It had gills, but it, too, gulped air, as it had regarded us. It was similar to the tiny lung fish I had seen earlier on the river, those little creatures clinging to the half-submerged roots of shore trees, and, as often as not, sunning themselves on the backs of tharlarion, those tiny fish called gints. Its pectoral fins were large and fleshy." ~Explorers of Gor, page 384~
Grunt, blue
"Such blood might attract the bind, a fanged, carnivorous marsh eel, or the predatory, voracious blue grunt, a small, fresh-water variety of the much larger and familiar salt-water grunt of Thassa. The blue grunt is particularly dangerous during the daylight hours preceding its mating periods, when it schools. Its mating periods are synchronized with the phases of Gor's major moon, the full moon reflecting on the surface of the water somehow triggering the mating instinct. During the daylight hours preceding such a moon, as the restless grunts school, they will tear anything edible to pieces which crosses their path." ~Explorers of Gor, page 267~
Grunt, speckled
- "I saw a great speckled grunt, four-gilled." ~Explorers of Gor, page 360~
Grunt, white bellied
"Three other men of the Forkbeard attended to fishing, two with a net, sweeping it along the side of the serpent, for parsit fish, and the third, near the stem, with a hook and line, baited with vulo liver, for the white-bellied grunt." ~Marauders of Gor, page 59~
Hook-billed turtle
"Indeed, it was unlikely that my body would reach the delta at all. It was far more likely that one of the water lizards of the Vosk or one of the great hook-beaked turtles of the river would seize my body and drag it and the frame under the water, destroying me in the mud below." ~Tarnsman of Gor, page 138~
Hunjer Long Whale
"That scent, I knew, a distillation of a hundred flowers, nurtured like a priceless wine, was a secret guarded by the perfumers of Ar. It contained as well the separated oil of the Thentis needle tree; an extract from the glands of the Cartius river urt; and a preparation formed from a disease calculus scraped from the intestines of the rare Hunjer Long Whale" ~Marauders of Gor, page 114~
Karl Whale
"Sometimes they managed to secure the northern shark, sometimes even the toothed Hunjer whale or the less common Karl whale, which was a four-fluked, baleen whale." ~Beasts of Gor, page 6~
Leach, salt
"I flicked a salt leach from the side of the light rush craft with the corner of the tem-wood paddle." ~Raiders of Gor, page 5~
Leech, marsh
"Described as rubbery about 4 inches long; it attaches itself to plants in the marsh or float free in the water, waiting for warm blooded animals. They fasten themselves to their victim to suck blood until, satiated, they detach. They can be removed with fire or salt. They are edible." ~Vagabonds of Gor, page 96-102~
Lelt
"Lelts are often attracted to the salt rafts, by their abnormally developed lateral-line protrusions, and their fernlike cranial vibration receptors; The tiny, eyeless heads will thrust from the water, and the fernlike filaments at the side of the head will open and lift, The lelt is commonly five to seven inches in length. It is white, and long-finned. It swims slowly and smoothly " ~Tribesmen of Gor, page 247~
Lung
"Also called gints; small fish found near half-submerged roots of shore trees or sunning on the back of tharlarion." ~Explorer of Gor, page 384~
Marine saurian
"Sharks, and sometimes marine saurians, sometimes trail the ships, to secure discarded garbage and rob the lines of the fishermen. I had seen, yesterday, the long neck of a marine saurian lift from the waters of gleaming Thassa. It had a small head, and rows of small teeth. Its appendages ere like broad paddles. Then it had lowered its head and disappeared. Such beasts, in spite of their frightening appearance, are apparently harmless to men. They can take only bits of garbage and small fish." ~Slave Girl of Gor, page 60
Marsh moccasin
"Narrow dark, poisonous snake about five feet long with a small triangular head. It inhabits the waters of the Vosk Delta." ~Vagabonds of Gor, page 267~ Mollusks - "I could hear the cry of sea birds, broad winged gulls, and the small, stick-legged tibits, pecking in the sand for tiny mollusks." ~Hunters of Gor, page 247~
Oysters
"Other girls had prepared the repast, which, for the war camp, was sumptuous indeed, containing even oysters from the delta of the Vosk, a portion of the plunder of a tarn caravan of Ar, such delicacies having been intended for the very table of Marlenus, the Ubar of that great city itself." ~Captive of Gor, page 301~
Parsit
"The slender, striped parsit fish has vast plankton banks north of the town and may there, particularly in the spring and fall be taken in great numbers; Trade to the south, of course, is largely in the furs acquired from Torvaldsland, and in the barrels of smoked, dried parsit fish." ~Marauders of Gor, page 28~
River Urt, Cartius
"That scent, I knew, a distillation of a hundred flowers, nurtured like a priceless wine, was a secret guarded by the perfumers of Ar. It contained as well the separated oil of the Thentis needle tree; an extract from the glands of the Cartius river urt; and a preparation formed from a disease calculus scraped from the intestines of the rare Hunjer Long Whale" ~ Marauders of Gor, page 114~
Shark, marsh
"Beyond them would be the almost eel-like, long-bodied, nine-gilled Gorean marsh sharks." ~Raiders of Gor, page 58~
Shark, northern
"Sometimes they managed to secure the northern shark, sometimes even the toothed Hunjer whale or the less common Karl whale, which was a four-fluked, baleen whale. But their life, at best, was a precarious one." ~Explorers of Gor, page 36~
Shark, river
"Something, with a twist of its great spine, had suddenly darted from the waters under the pier and entered the current of the Laurius. I saw the flash of a triangular, black dorsal fin. I screamed. Lana looked out, pointing after it. "A river shark," she cried, excitedly." ~Captive of Gor, page 79~
Shark, salt
"We saw the broad, blunt head, eyeless, white. Then it submerged, with a twist of the long spine and tail. The waters were still. At the top of the food chain in the pits, a descendant, dark-adapted, of the terrors of the ancient seas, stood the long-bodied, nine-gilled salt shark. The head was more than a yard in width, white pits where there might have been eyes. The raft tipped, struck by its back, as it turned and, twisting, glided away into the darkness." ~Tribesmen of Gor, page 251~
Shark, white
"There is also, however, some danger in this, for sea sleen and the white sharks of the north occasionally attempt to tear such a girl off the oar." ~Marauders of Gor, page 66~
Sea sleen
"The sea sleen, vicious, fanged aquatic mammals, apparently related to the land forms of sleen, are the swiftest predators to be found in Thassa; further, they are generally conceded to be the most dangerous; they tend, however, to frequent northern waters. Occasionally they have been found as far south, however, as the shores of Cos and the deep inlets of Tyros." ~Slave Girl of Gor, page 360~
Sea sleen, black
"Sleen, interestingly, come northward with the parsit. their own migrations synchronized with those of the parsit, which forms for them their principal prey. The four main types of sea sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen." ~Beasts of Gor, pg 36~
Sea sleen, brown
"Sleen, interestingly, come northward with the parsit. their own migrations synchronized with those of the parsit, which forms for them their principal prey. The four main types of sea sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen." ~Beasts of Gor, pg 36~
Sea sleen, flat-nosed
"Sleen, interestingly, come northward with the parsit. their own migrations synchronized with those of the parsit, which forms for them their principal prey. The four main types of sea sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen." ~Beasts of Gor, pg 36~
Sea sleen, tusked
"Sleen, interestingly, come northward with the parsit. their own migrations synchronized with those of the parsit, which forms for them their principal prey. The four main types of sea sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen." ~Beasts of Gor, pg 36~
Snails
"Once the Forkbeard went to her and taught her to check the scoop, with her left hand, for snails, that they not be thrown overboard. Returning to me he held one of the snails, whose shell he crushed between his fingers, and sucked out the animal, chewing and swallowing it. He then threw the shell fragments overboard. "They are edible," he said. "And we use them for fish bait." ~Marauders of Gor, page 62~
Tharlarion, tiny water
"Immediately following I saw the water seem to glitter for a moment, a rain of yellowish streaks beneath the surface, in the wake of the water tharlarion, doubtless its swarm of scavengers, tiny water tharlarion, about six inches long, little more than teeth and tail." ~Raiders of Gor, page 1~
Tharlarion, marsh
"Marsh thalarion: I heard the hoarse grunting of the great march thalarion weighing more than half a hundred men. " ~Raiders of Gor, page 58~
Water lizards
"Idly, with repulsion, I watched the body of the tharlarion in the swamp. As the water lizards fed, the carcus, lightened, had shifted, rolling in the water. Now, in a matter of moments, the skeleton was visible, picked almost clean, the bones glistening, except where small lizards skittered about on them, seeking the last particles of flesh." ~Tarnsman of Gor, page 86~