The sliideptra was a species of large annelidians from Tel IV.
Biology and appearance
Sliideptra were segmented worms that lived in the trees of Tel IV. Their bodies were mostly composed of a large air sac that had a series of pores used to expel the poison gas produced by their bodies. They had a triple set of eyes on each side of their head, giving the creature excellent vision.[1]
Behavior
They hung from tree branches by their many tentacles and waited for prey. It attracted prey with a low hum. When an animal came along, a sliideptra would expel a cloud of poisonous gases it created inside its body, paralyzing the animal. It would then lower itself and spit streams of corrosive saliva on the prey to dissolve its flesh. In approximately one hour, the flesh would reach a semi-liquid consistency, at which point the sliideptra would begin consuming it. While they seemed vulnerable to other predators, attacking a sliideptra could cause a explosion of the poisonous gas in its body. For this reason they were largely ignored by other predators. However, a sliideptra that had recently expeled its poison gas would have been vulnerable to attack, as it takes about 50 hours for one to generate a sizable amount of gas. This was still risky, because their flesh was also poisonous.[1]
History
The Empire collected many sliideptras for research in chemical warfare. They were able to produce a parasitic grain mold that decimated Keresia and a biological self-destruct mechanism for Imperial spies. A group of Ho'Din scientists on Tel IV had developed a serum that was effective against the sliideptras' poison.[1]
