[Ebony Stardust]

-snip-
I see what you guys mean now that I re-look over them so I will have to decide what details to change... Any ideas on what I should change?

I'd say changing the head shape/ facial features would help! Maybe the body's proportions or build, as well?

[Mr.Sifaka]

same as darkstorm, but also the long neck with the floppy ears and such
the body is also pretty similar

[solos]

honestly to me, the entire thing looks very very similar/a copy of chicoons minus the flame n plus some horns n a halo aswell as floppy ears instead of wings ;; from the face structure to the long neck to a body type [even the style this was drawn in] looks extremely close to buzz aesthetic’s species

obviously someone cant copyright a body type or somethn like that but theres too many similarities to just overlook this

[sweathie]

considering that this design, if made into a finished character, could be approved as an edited chicoon, and backed up by the other responses here, this is way too close to a chicoon for comfort. there are a lot of changes that need to be done to the fundamental concept; various things can be changed in order to distance the two from each other, including body anatomy, head shape, nose shape, tail anatomy, hands, tuft placement, ear placement, neck anatomy, and fangs, however you would need to change multiple things combined rather than just one specific thing.

considering that you intend this species to be partially aquatic, it might be good to consider some of the following traits:
- webbed feet
- higher body mass
- sleeker fur
- more aerodynamic body shape
- catfish whiskers
- nictitating membranes
- shorter/chubbier neck
- paddle tail

you might want to look at otters, beavers, platypuses, manatees, dolphins, capybaras, and muskrats for inspiration!

[bug]

I agree with everyone above so I am gonna make some changes like:
Adding fins, webbed feet, shortening of the neck/length of body/length of legs, changing the tail to be finned as well, changing the head shape to be less boxedr, changing the nose type, and turning the ears into more watery trait styled ears (like a small water rodents), and making smaller edits to look less like a chicoon like sleeker fur, heavier body weight and some whiskers like sweathie suggested.

But I want to thank everyone for the help that everyone has shared