The squales, a name coined by the crew of the USS Titan as a shortened form of "squid-whales," were sentient marine chordates native to Droplet. They lacked true bones, but had pseudovertebrae made from cartilage. They somewhat resembled small whales, with four facial tentacles and the ability to change their skin color for communication or camouflage. While conventional "technology" was alien to them, to their limited access to metals, they had perfected bioengineering far beyond the species of the Federation, and even designed a form of biological space capsule. (TTN novel: Over a Torrent Sea)