Melodies are an amphibious humanoid species who dwell in the caverns and deep, mountain lakes of Yavin Eight's equatorial Mountains. Like many amphibians, they have two distinct phases of life, water-dwelling and land-dwelling. Unlike most amphibians, however, the Melodies hatch on dry land from eggs, and then move to the water as adults.
Young Melodies are small humanoids with yellow eyes and human-like hair. They breathe via conventional lungs which are capable of retaining air long periods of time, allowing the young to go for long dives underwater. The hands of the young are slightly webbed, allowing them to move underwater with great ease.
Adults, known as "elders," look much like their younger counterparts above the waist, but have long fish-like tails with blue, green, purple, pink, and orange striping. They breathe through gills, by extracting oxygen fom the water. Middle-aged adults can still survive in the open air for limited periods, but the elderly cannot surface at all.
Melodies make the transition from one form to the other when they reach maturity, in about their twentieth year. This "Changing Ceremony," as it is called, takes place in a shallow, underground pools coated in a special algae which allows the Melodies to breathe while undergoing the transition. The algae cannot grow in deeper water, forcing the Melodies to dwell in these less-defensible pools for several days or weeks.
The changing Melodies are helpless during the change, and must be guarded by the young. Predators of the planet, like purella, rells, and raiths, know when the changing season has come, and attempt to devour the changing Melodies. The children can only drive off so many of the invaders with their rocks, and many Melodies do not survive. | 
