Gill-Man (New Earth-Forty Two)

Legends
The creature that lives in the area called "The Black Lagoon" has been a source of mystery and myth for an unknown amount of time.

In the ancient legends from multiple tribes in the region, there is a tale of race of people that lived in the water and were more fish then men and would hunt and kill those who were by the river. The legend ends with a group of hunters from multiple tribes assembling and killing the fish men at their nest, but according to the legend some escape. Multiple tales tell of different encounters with the creatures, but most center around what legends call "The Black Lagoon".

Explorers Accounts
The first sighting of the creature by Europeans occurred during Francisco de Orellana's 1st expedition during the Summer of 1542 down the Amazon River. Though only an account sent via letter mentioning a strange scaled creature that one of the men claimed to see, while exploring around the river.

The second sighting was by Henry Walter Bates during his expedition into the Amazon Rain Forest that started in 1848 and lasted for four years. During this time, Bates saw a strange creature in a murky lagoon a few meters from a river. The creature he saw from a distance seemed to be green scaled humanoid. During the sighting, Bates recalls himself being somewhat sick and suffering from a mild fever. Bates sketches the creature he thought he saw, but due to his illness and the fact that none of his men saw it, decided to not bother putting it into his book, The Naturalist on the River Amazons. Bates would later convince himself that it was most likely a native tribes man, who most likely hunting. The sketch of the creature was donated to the Royal Geographical Society along with his journals and other sketches after his death.

Multiple sightings would occur later on, with people claiming to encounter a strange fish creature every couple decades. Stories would vary with people claiming to have seen it from a distance to claiming that it attacked them, to claiming that it killed someone. Most of the sightings were written off as attacks by Native tribesman or Black caiman attacks.