Ganulia

The ganulia (pronounced /gəˈnuːljə/) is an enormous ray that lives in the oceans of Dadauar. Ganulia feed by taking in seawater through their mouths and expelling it through their gills, filtering out and digesting any organic matter that gets caught in the process—which generally means mostly plankton, but ganulia do eat fish and other pelagic marine life as well. Ganulia move slowly, and most intelligent creatures know enough to get well out of the way when they see one coming, but the suction the ganulia produce when they're taking in water is certainly enough to take in larger animals—including humans—unwary enough to be swimming nearby.

The ganulia tends to stay near the surface of the water, very seldom having any reason to submerge. Its feeding process is also its primary means of locomotion—the expelled water acts as a jet to propel the creature forward. If necessary, the ganulia can swim using its fins and tail, but rarely has reason to. It therefore tends to move in fits and starts, jetting forward a few hundred meters and then pausing while it takes in more water, spurting forward again as it expels its new gulletful.

Though it might seem a large source of meat, the ganulia has few natural enemies. Its flesh is toxic to most predatory organisms, including humans—it's not a deadly poison, but it's enough to make any consumers sick. Those few organisms that might decide to feed on it are warded off by a colony of defenders that grows on the creature's underside.

Because the ganulia almost never goes underwater, and because its motion is relatively slow, it is often seen something as a floating island—and has been used as such. Entire communities have been built on the backs of some ganulia, independent cities beholden to no landbound ruler. Most of these communities are primitive, but there are a few petty onirarchies located on the backs of ganulias, ruled by onirarchs whose powers pale in comparison to those ruling larger lands with many more dreamers to draw from, but are more than sufficient to reign over their tiny demesnes. Other ganulia have stockades on their backs that serve as the headquarters to rebel groups.