Leedsichthys drawing

[bettashark]

I just remembered I did this piece a while back. Never did finish it. I usually stick to tiny fish; giant fish were a bit of a challenge. I hope it's reasonably accurate. Leedsichthys is one of those animals where the remains are more than a bit spotty. I wound up filling in with anchovy, sardine, basking shark, and baleen whale, which probably aren't great analogs. The markings were supposed to be a mixture of minke whale and whale shark, but the end result was more nassau grouper. Plus the yellow fins from tuna. Who knows! Not me!
The two in front there are supposed to be having an argument about who is dominant within the school. You think schooling fish are peaceful? They are not. They hit each other with their tails and bite each other in the face. I found this out thanks to my rasboras. I imagine Leedsichthys anger wiggles were more impressive. Anyway, like most fish with large mouths, these two are showing each other just how big their mouths are! They're also displaying brighter colors and flaring their fins. Of course, nothing at all is known about Leedsichtys social behavior.
The Leedsichthys are surrounded by a number of tiny hangers-on, equivalents of remoras and pilot fish that follow and stick to large animals today.
About the pelvic fins: I found exactly one article that mentions them having had long skinny pelvic fins. One. With no pictures at all. It seems other related species had similar pelvic fins, so I figured it wasn't too wild.
This piece was meant to be finished with a nice oceanic blue background and a few vague silhouettes of more Leedsichthys, but I wasn't happy with how it was coming out (grainy and blurry) and stopped here. Solid blue is pretty hard with colored pencils anyway.
So here it is, 3 very speculative Leedsichthys from a person who draws way more living tiny fish than anything else. Enjoy!

[Newt]

Very nicely done!

[indohyus]

That is stunning! Great job!

[Justin_]

I like the viewpoint, looking down on them. Could you scan it and then try backgrounds digitally? It would be fun to try adding a subtle wave texture over the top.

[Jose S.M.]

That is a beautiful artwork!

[Halichoeres]

1. Great drawing, I love the dynamism.

2. Interesting about the pelvic fins! I had read that none had been found for Leedsichthys, but I might be out of date. I figured based on Pachycormus specimens clearly lacking pelvic fins that they had likely been lost in Leedsichthys, but it does seem to be a variable trait within Pachycormiformes, with Protosphyraena having the long ribbonlike ones you describe.