Zennor System

Several phyles of water breathing terragen are found here, from Selkie to Neo-europan, and three clades of merpeople, together with dolphin morphed posthumans but no dolphins as such (apart for the small Golden Dolphin embassy ). Several small moons of the jovian Newlyn are also maintained as waterworlds, but incorporate various provolved coral reef ecologies, with sentient shoals of fish in constant motion and constant online communication with the polyp neural nets.

Hundreds of local asteroids have been converted to zero gravity habitats and are occupied by air breathing versions of the waterclades, usually adapted with larger fins to allow for movement in air.

A local cultural development is so called day/night-swimming, many merpeople and selkies each being split into two personalities, with one entity in charge of the physical body while the other is engaged in virtual dreaming and vice versa. Both personalities can confer and effectively double the amount of experience and processing power available for any situation of particular interest or concern.

Lamorna

The 30 km deep ocean of Lamorna in the Zennor system formed when the icy planet was melted by broad beam laser from peristellar energy farms. The deepest ocean layer the bathylimnion is characterised by magnesium sulphate rich water with tectonic activity producing volcanic vents, and occasionally more serious volcanic activity or crustal quakes leading to turbulence and mixing with the middle and top ocean layers. The mesolimnion has a greater concentration of sodium and carbonate salts, and is separated from the top layers- the deep thermocline, the mixed thermocline,and the epilimnion (or photic zone) by discontinuities of temperature.

Three clades of merpeople have become established in the deep oceans.

Megas, Homo megaptera, a 30 metre whale analogue clade who have the advantage of extracting oxygen directly from the ocean via huge gills between the massive head and the bulky shoulders and arm/wings, so can remain submerged permanently. The Megas range as deep as 7km in search of krill and squid, and are often out of range of the local Net. This clade is geneered for long life, but is not naturally immortal without medical assistance.

Zennorians, merpeople, Homo zennoris , a five metre dolphin analogue developed in the Zennor system on the neighbouring water moon Sennen , fast, playful, similar to toothed whales but with a humanoid head and torso. They live in floating kelp cities and have since 9400 abandoned hunting for fish , replacing this food in their diet with protein produced by the biogeneered kelp itself. Zennorians, often just known as merpeople locally, usually practice day/night swimming, having two individuals alternating between one body and virtuality in the local cybercosm.

Selkies, Halichoerus sapiens, a grey seal provolve. Air breathing phocidae that live in communities of tens to thousands, building solid floating cities with extensive rocky beaches (none of the rocky core of Zennor reaches above the bathylimnion. Selkies are symbiotic with subturing microcladic bushbots to assist them in object manipulation in and out of the water, as they have no opposable digits. Selkie cultural development is typified by vocalisation: Opera, rapping, epic poetry, competitive barking.