Population: 1 known specimen

 

Size: unknown

 

Diet: anything that moves

 

Call: seems able to mimic the calls of a variety of native and SuperFauna species

 

Threat Level: Critically High

 

This voracious predator appears to be a particularly advanced manifestation of Neuroavis Chimera Disease, moving from host to host without ever truly biologically or neurologically integrating. Instead, this parasite seems to puppet its host by removing the head by means of precise cutting then situating its long, segmented tail down the exposed oesophagus, allowing its star shaped body to sit atop and act as a new ‘head’. While it is not known precisely how it pilots its victims, especially without access to any kind cerebral organs or nervous system, a black substance chemically consistent with the Monolithian element was found within the blood of a recent host specimen. This substance may be the key by which it manipulates its hosts’ bodies, although how it functions specifically is currently unknown.

 

The Star Parasite exhibits a variety of hunting methods, employing various tactics depending on factors like terrain, visibility and manoeuvrability of prey species. One such method is an ambush technique dubbed “the flower”, in which the parasite folds up its 24 legs in a pose reminiscent of a flower bud, remaining almost perfectly still until a prey species approaches. Once this happens, the bud-like parasite ‘blooms’, quickly unfolding its many legs and shooting out a powerful, segmented appendage ending in 10 small, spike tipped tentacles to ensnare prey. Once the prey animal is caught, the parasite lodges these spiked tipped tentacles into the victim, drawing blood which is subsequently sucked up through the appendage for ingestion within the star-shaped body. Once the victim is utterly drained, the parasite will discard the husk, making it very likely that it subsists entirely on blood in addition to any other fluids within the prey animal.

 

The star parasite has grown in size significantly since its discovery, reflected in its choice of increasingly large host species ranging from Grey Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and most recently a particularly huge Ayam Cemani chicken. The deceased body of this chicken (from which the aforementioned blood samples were collected) was recently discovered after having been shot by a farmer whose lands bordered on the Zone. The farmer claimed the parasite had killed and drained a portion of their livestock, including 7 domestic hens (Gallus gallus) and 2 lambs (Ovis aries). In addition, one of the farmer’s pet Border Collies (Canis Lupis) has been reported missing since this incident and it, along with the parasite, are yet to be found. This incident reveals the Star Parasite’s seeming ability to travel outside of the Zone’s atmosphere (the only recorded SuperFauna species able to do so), perhaps facilitated through inhabitation of these puppet hosts and/or its consumption of native species’ blood. Combined with its adaptive intelligence and extreme aggression, it presents the most urgent and direct physical threat to humans of all known SuperFauna species. As such, a call for its immediate extermination has been approved by the SFS (SuperFauna Society).