Finding one fish in the ocean is an incredibly difficult task, as anyone can comprehend. Finding one fish in the dark abyssal zone would then be extremely difficult. Even Cousteau, a Cuvier's beaked whale specifically uplifted for this task, was finding this a difficult challenge. Because he was searching down there for one fish in particular.
The angler fish is one of the deep sea's most well-known fish. Its large, gaping mouth full of teeth and the glow-tipped appendage that gives it its name makes the angler fish a very distinctive fish. But many species of anglerfish are known for a particularly bizarre method of reproduction. Sexual dimorphism was very extreme, the lure-wielding creatures that are the common image are the females of the species. The males were far small, possessed no lure, and possessed little more than a sharp nose, sharp teeth, and a pair of gonads. With several species of angler fish, when the male finds a female, he latches onto her body with his teeth before fusing himself to her flesh and bloodstream and atrophying until he was just a pair of gonads attached to her. This allows the female to produce eggs whenever she wanted.
Such an unusual fish would make an interesting Animalian. Though that wasn't the first reason it was being searched for. When Project Hermaphroditus started, there were several requests for the kinds of animals that could be herm options. Among those requests were a few for the angler fish. Evidently, its natural hermaphroditism and distinctive appearance was appealing to some people. Though uplifting one has only become recently viable with the uplifting of Cousteau and the start of Animalia Abyssus. Without the beaked whale's genes for rising and diving, a deep sea fish would come apart if brought out of the crushing darkness.
Still, finding an ideal specimen was not easy, even with the help of a deep sea drone and Bubblehead, the uplifted barrel-eyed fish that was currently the only member of Animalia Abyssus. They were looking for an angler fish that had already formed a mating bond with a male, preferably with him being on her lower belly. And with miles of dark ocean to search, it would take weeks before they found what they were looking for.
Their persistence did pay off, though. The female angler fish was particularly large, being 3 feet long. Her skin was jet black, but appeared navy blue under direct light. A particularly long lure waved out in front of her mouth. And nestled on her lower belly, just in front of her pelvic fins, was a small lump that was the vestigial body of her mate.
"That is a big angler fish," said Bubblehead, the angler fish drifting in front of him slowly. While Cousteau was able to dive to extreme depths, he was still a mammal and couldn't talk underwater without losing his precious air supply.
Using a speaker on the drone, Harold told him, "That is a Krøyer's deep sea angler fish, also called the northern seadevil, the largest species of angler fish currently known."
"I hope that's as big as it can get," said Bubblehead.
"Some specimens have been found 4 feet long," said Harold.
"We don't have to search for one of those," said Bubblehead, "This one will be due, right?"
"Indeed," said Harold. The drone opened a compartment, revealing a special bottle designed for deep sea pressures. The bottle was filled with a white fluid that contained the specialized Animalian formula a deep sea fish would need to be able to go to the surface. It also contained some of the Hermaphroditus strain in case the angler fish wouldn't hermaphrodize on her own while uplifting. "You don't need to catch her," said Harold, "Make sure the formula is released within reach of her gills and it should do the rest."
Cousteau gave a thumb's up to the camera. It wasn't as if he couldn't outswim the slow angler fish. But he want to avoid harming her or have the dosage miss. If the Animalia virus got loose in the ocean, the world's food web would be completely destroyed with too many sentient creatures and not enough food for them all. The angler fish only put on a small burst of speed as Cousteau got close, not wanting to spend precious energy in a world of infrequent meals. Cousteau easily swam in front of the first and unlatched the bottle in front of her. A small cloud of white was released and the angler fish swam into it.
The angler fish shuddered as it swam through the cloud. It made coughing motions that were rather common with uplifting fish. Before long, the fish started to swell in size. The tiny pectoral fins grew longer until they became muscular arms ending with webbed hands. The vertical pelvic fins twisted around the growing hips as they evolved into proper legs. The head became more distinctive from the body as the neck developed. The fish's protruding teeth shrank in size until she was able to close her lips over them. The round fish body became more shapely as the shoulders, waist, and hips fully developed. Then more distinctive sexual traits formed as a pair of breasts started ballooning out. Meanwhile, the vestigial body of her symbiotic mate had been repositioning between her new legs. It began growing, changing texture and shape considerably before it became a 7-inch penis with a smooth head, ribs down the shaft, and placed just above hir reconfigured vagina.
The uplifted angler fish had a body similar to the other hermaphrodite Animalians: large muscles, wide shoulders, big breasts, curvy hips, toned but supple rear, a large dick that was slowly retracting into hir body. Compared to other fish Animalians, hir tail wasn't very big, not having changed much in size and shape other than being located over hir ass. Hir arms and legs in comparison looked a lot stronger more capable of propelling hir through water. Hir face was less ugly as one would expect an angler fish to be, mostly because hir teeth weren't sticking out. The light from hir lure was still shining bright, illuminating hir navy blue body.
"Are you feeling alright?" asked Bubblehead.
"We...I feel good," said the angler fish, hir voice a little more guttural than most female Animalians, "We...I feel a lot stronger, have more energy." Shi looked at Bubblehead and Cousteau, "You are like us, but not like me."
"They are Animalians, like you are now," said Harold through the drone, "They are different species. And there are even more Animalians up on the surface."
The angler fish tilted hir head up, even though there was nothing but blackness overhead. "We'd...I'd like to see that," shi said.
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There were a few interesting things about the uplifted angler fish, now named Allura. Shi had a subconscious tendency to refer to hirself in plural terms. The theory was that since Allura had been originally two fish that fused together, some remnant of the male part of hir remained in hir nervous system and made Allura think of hirself as two people. Though no split personalities seemed to exist and she seemed perfectly sane asides from a quirk in hir speech.
Allura's new penis was rather fascinating. Most fish Animalians had two claspers because of shark influences. Despite originally being a separate fish, the penis showed no join onto hir body. It was also as flexible and maneuverable as Allura's lure and amusingly the head was also capable of glowing. Why a colony of bio-luminescent bacteria was inside the penis was unknown currently unknown, though some suggested it was because of the former male's latent genes.
Allura was soon getting a lot of fanmail, namely from the people who were interested in becoming a herm angler fish. But Horizon Labs wasn't about to rush Allura into finding a mate until shi had finished her acclimation classes. There were other things to study as well. Next, Project Hermaphroditus will be looking for a mangrove killifish, the only natural hermaphroditic vertebrates, for uplifting.