According to Jake Clark, when he was designing Cala Maria, The character went through a notable amount of changes before settling with the final design.

Before being settled for having a octopus on her head. Her face originally had fish fins on the side of her face, she had various different types of crowns (along with different hair styles) a starfish was considered to be used at one point, she had a round earring on her nose, a crab tattoo on her right arm, and wearing gloves.

It was also considered for her to hold a weapon(A sword and an anchor). As well the following for her attacks. Cala using her tail, summoning swordfish, a giant crab, and using a title wave.