Author Notes - You'll never look at this enemy the same way again once you read its Piklopedia entry...

MEERSLUG FAMILY

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Hyperoartia
Order: Petromyzontidae

EMILY'S PERSONAL NOTES

Nature is gross. You learn this quite early on in biology class. In fact, it can turn away some of the newbies. This critter is a brilliant example of this. That mouth? It's also this thing's butt. Which means it isn't just barfing up sand, but pooping it simultaneously.

Why do I do this? Because I've never really found this stuff all that gross. It's kinda the only reason I do so well in this field compared to my colleagues. I'm always the one who has to handle feces because of it.

Have I grossed you guys out enough? Maybe I should stop.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCES

The Gastropoidae anguilii (Sandbelching Meerslug) is a gigantic worm, mostly brown with a pale underbelly. Its most prominent feature, other than its size, is its thick purple 'lips' around its main orifice. It has small black eyes with rudimentary sight, fuzzy pink marks on its cheeks, and red spines on its back. The back half of its body is noticeably thicker than the front half, though this is usually chalked up to it having swallowed something big.

HABITAT

The Meerslug lives only where heavy amounts of sand can be found. It typically resides in deserts, though they have also been found at massive beaches. It is rare to see, due to it remaining under the sand's surface for most of its life. However, encounters above the surface are not unheard of and a risk one should always keep in mind.

DIET AND DEFENCES

Meerslugs consume anything that both moves and will fit in its mouth. Entire Bulborbs, swallowed whole, have been found in its gullet. It traps prey by creating gigantic funnel-shaped pits to lure and trap its prey, much like an antlion. Sometimes, it will create these pits with sheer cliffs to stop its prey from fleeing.

Its main form of defence is its incredible size compared to most creatures in the ecosystem, on top of its mighty jaws. If its prey is putting up a fight or it is up against a predator who bests its strength, it will dig through the sand and inhale the grains through the main orifice as it does so. The sand is processed in its intestinal canal, and becomes polished and hardened. Once the Meerslug emerges from the sand, it can eject the hardened balls of sand through its orifice.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Meerslugs are extremely territorial creatures and will not tolerate other Meerslugs intruding on their territory. Typically, the mutual hatred for intruders will stop any Meerslugs from encountering each other at all. In the rare circumstances non-related or non-mated ones meet, however, it will always result in a fight for dominance. Sometimes, these vicious fights end in mercy and the victor allows the loser to leave. Usually, however, it's a fight to the death. The winner will consume the loser but leave behind their bones, as a warning to other Meerslugs.

COURTING AND CHILDREARING

The only time that Meerslugs will not attack each other on sight is once a year during mating season. For a week each year, Meerslugs will gather into large groups at certain spots in the desert. During this time, they are surprisingly peaceful. There will be little to no attempts at fights, for Meerslugs are naturally drawn to a particular mate.

Once the mating concludes, the Meerslugs will spread apart and return to fighting each other aggressively. The only difference is that mother Meerslugs have children to defend. She will do so until they are mature enough to live on their own. Oftentimes, the largest female in the litter will attempt to slaughter her own mother to gain her territory. If such a fight breaks out, the mother will not hesitate to fight or even kill her own offspring.

OTHER NOTES

Though they thrive best in the sands, Meerslugs are capable of navigating through water if they are forced to. They can go several days without air, though will attempt to return to their sandy homes as quickly as possible.

NOTES FROM OTHER RESEARCHERS

Name -

It mostly stays below the sand, but sometimes sticks its head out to lob balls of sand at Pikmin. If they're hit and stuck in the sand, they don't have any good defences against it digging its hole beneath them. It reminds me a little of going to the beach, and how older kids would bury me in the sand. How I miss those days! But I've got to focus on saving Koppai for now. - Alph

I try to get close and it just hides in its stupid sandy hole. So I move away and it still hides behind those sand balls it's always chucking around. What's it got against me, eh?! - Brittany

The area where we found this creature was practically a paradise. I still want to go back there and swim around in the sand with my rubber ducky. Maybe the crew would let me do it if I called it a training exercise. - Captain Charlie (Emily's Notes - Tried that excuse once. Didn't work.)

Author Notes - I usually forget half of what I write soon after writing it, so sometimes I surprise myself. When I found out that sometimes female Meerslugs will attempt to kill their own mothers, my eyes honestly went wide.

Aight, next we have the Huntinpeck family. Which I think is the only one of the Pikmin 3 boss entries whose family was actually introduced in Hey! Pikmin, of all places.