I never played the earlier Elder Scrolls games, you see. First ES game I played was Morrowind..
But when I reread Spirit of the Daedra I noticed the name, and became curious. I looked them up and found out that they were in Battlespire and Redguard, and maybe a few others. I also noticed that no Daedroth appeared in those games, and that the Vermai disappeared when the daedroth showed up. Are they the same creature? As far as we know, I mean.

This picture isn't particularly credible, as it's a player made model for a Morrowind mod, but it still seems to fit the badly lit screenshots of Vermai from Battlespire and Redguard pretty well. And it has a few glaring similarities between it and the Morrowind Daedroth.

http://tes.newraven.net/images/stories/TrrKah/Creatures/c9_vermai.jp

The Vermai and Daedroth also have similar personalities:

Search the forum. From what I saw the Vermai are unintelligent deadra that tend to eat their summoners. I only did a quick search so I'm sure you will find everything you need.

There were daedroth in Daggerfall, which came before both Battlespire and Redguard. And no, they are not the same creature.

Alas, it's another cool daedra that didn't make it through Morrowind and Oblivion. Lots of daedras from Battlespire are not seen in the later games, alas. (May be understandable in Oblivion since it deals with Mehrunes' realm. Although Daedroths are there.. aren't they the servants of Malacath?)

The Daedroth in Daggerfall actually looked like an Argonian to me. A big lizard-headed creature equipped with armor and a one-handed axe.

Vermai : "Hmmmgrrrffffmmm!!"
You : "Hmmmmgrrrrfff what?"

Dialogue in Battlespire was very humoristic sometimes.

Redguard also had one of those ^_^

I don't think that the Vermai and Daedroth are supposed to be the same creatures since, In case I'm not totally mistaken, the Vermai serves Mehrunes Dagon whereas the Daedroth prefers to serve the daedra prince Molag Bal

Hope that helps

It was never stated which Daedroth the Vermai served.

By the way - when talking about the crocodile-like Daedroth, as opposed to Daedra in general, the plural is "Daedroths", not "Daedroth".

Not quite sure about that either, but I found it on those sites:
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Daedric_Forces_of_Destruction
http://www.scharesoft.de/joomla/almanach/index.php/Vermai

:icecream:

//
wow, I'm getting interested in those nasty little critters - UESP also states that it seems like they're more or less bound to Dagon : http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Bestiary_V#Vermai

Well, you have to remember that the Daedric Forces of Destruction were composed not only of Dagon's Daedra, but also some of the other types. Let's look at it:

Clannfear (Dagon)
Dremora (Dagon)
Daedra Count (Unconfirmed)
Daedra Lord (Unconfirmed)
Daedric Seducer (Unconfirmed)
Fire Daedra (Unconfirmed)
Frost Daedra (Unconfirmed)
Herne (Hircine)
Morphoid (Dagon)
Scamp (Dagon)
Spider Daedra (Mephala)
Vermai (Unconfirmed)

Take out Dagon's Daedra types, and you're left with eight types that serve other Daedra or are unconfirmed, while Dagon only has four types present. Any attempt to categorize Vermai as Dagon's servants is somewhat speculative, given that the only evidence (being part of the DFOD) isn't really a definate factor given the presence of other Daedra's types.

And yes, I'm falling in love with the Vermai too. (Dang it, not in that way!) If anyone can make them for Oblivion, they'll be my hero.

The Vermai were seen in Dagons raid on the Battlespire, figure they worked for him at the time. However the Daedric alliances can be fickle and so can the developers be.

But that wasn't the qeustion of the OP. To which I'm afraid there is no anwser until one speaks up. Though it seems plausible that the Vermai model was modified until it became something else, the Daedroth.

Daggerfall Daedroth
http://www.uesp.net/dagger/faq/group.gif

Battlespire Vermai
http://www.imperial-library.info/bestiaries/battlespire_large_vermai-2.jpg

Redguard Vermai
http://www.imperial-library.info/bestiaries/bestiaryredguard.shtml#Vermai

My guess would be that Redguard messed up by making the Vermai look like a Daedroth a little. It looks more like it has a dike coming out of its head.

Could have been mercenaries.