Answer: HAWKE
The first step is to identify all the sea creatures and objects.
If you had a striper | and you gave him a curve, |
you would have a striper | with a curve. |
Bass | Arc |
If you had a mereswine | and you gave him a donkey, |
you would have a mereswine | on a donkey. |
Porpoise | Ass |
If you had a bivalve | and you gave him an oeuvre, |
you would have a bivalve | reading an oeuvre. |
Clam | Corpus |
If you had a steelhead | and you gave him a women's fashion magazine, |
you would have a steelhead | with a women's fashion magazine. |
Trout | Elle |
If you had a nudibranch | and you gave him a pit, |
you would have a nudibranch | in a pit. |
Sea slug | Hole |
If you had a mollusk exoskeleton | and you gave him a tack, |
you would have a mollusk exoskeleton | holding a tack. |
Shell | Nail |
If you had a scoter | and you gave him a way to escape, |
you would have a scoter | with a way to escape. |
Sea duck | Out |
If you had a flatfish | and you gave him a carpet, |
you would have a flatfish | standing on a carpet. |
Sole | Rug |
If you had a predatory fish | and you gave him a beret, |
you would have a predatory fish | wearing a beret. |
Shark | Tam |
If you had a humpback | and you gave him a lorry, |
you would have a humpback | driving a lorry. |
Whale | Truck |
We can pair up words on the left half with rhyming words on the right half, and the words on the right are in alphabetical order for confirmation. The ordering on the left half side appears arbitrary. Rearrange the clued objects on the right half to match the left.
Bass | Ass |
Porpoise | Corpus |
Clam | Tam |
Trout | Out |
Sea slug | Rug |
Shell | Elle |
Sea duck | Truck |
Sole | Hole |
Shark | Arc |
Whale | Nail |
Now, we can read down the first letters to get the phrase ACTOR ETHAN. This clues the answer HAWKE.