Although they were of the same subrace, aquatic elves from the Great Sea had a different appearance to those from the Sea of Fallen Stars. The former had deep green skin, mottled and striped with brown. The latter had blue skin with white stripes and patches. Some other aquatic elves had pale silver-green skin. Both groups were robust and tall with long limbs. Their thick skin gave them protection from the cold of deep water, keeping them comfortable at just above freezing temperatures. Their fingers and toes were generally about twice as long as a human's and had thick webbing between them. Their most distinctive feature was the gills visible in their necks and over their ribs. Compared to other elves, aquatic elves had deep voices and were larger and heavier.
Aquatic elves could have eye colors including turquoise, white, black, blue, green, and rarely silver. Their hair was usually thick and somewhat stringy, and some aquatic elves had a rough hair texture. It could be blue-green, emerald green, blue, black, silver, or even occasionally red. Warriors clipped their hair short, but other aquatic elves wore it long and flowing. Females in particular sometimes grew their hair up to 4 feet long.