Creature:Verispid

Verispids are a species of worm that have become pests throughout ships in the many Galaxies.

History
Verispids evolved a species of worm on the planet Nukku, being on of the largest predators their planet, until the planet was discovered by the Galactic Society and became mined for precious spice. The Verispids somehow managed to board several ships and left their planet, the ones that didn't board ships eventually became extinct due to heavy spice mining in their natural habitat.

Many Verispids survived and lived on the ships, mostly staying in the vents when the crews were active and coming out when most of the crew had gone to bed. They feed on scraps left behind in cooking areas, sometimes succeeding in biting through plastic containers and devouring the food inside. Entire infestations of verispids could eventually eat the entire food supply, as they are always hungry and need to build up fat for fighting. They also need to bring food to their younglings referred to as maggots by most crew members. Due to their overfeeding and disgusting habits and looks, all space crews consider verispids vermin and pests, and attempt to kill them by tossing toxins in the vents or weeding them out by using flame throwers and killing the unhatched eggs. Despite attempts, no ship is ever entirley free of verispids, as they lay eggs in hard to reach places and more will eventually find their way on, as they now reside on almost all ships throughout the Galaxy.

Appearance
Verispids look like very dull colored bloated worms, with a leech-like mouth, and tiny hairs covering their three foot long bodies. These hairs are actually noses, so to speak, as they use them to taste the air and sense any incoming threats, which is why they are never found at the scene of their crimes, namely, piles of leftovers from their feeding times during sleeping ours. They can also hiss, usually doing this when cornered. When they are cornered they will turn aggressive, often leaping at their tormentor in an attempt to frighten them so they can flee back into the vents in which they live in ships.

Breeding
Verispids lay their eggs deep inside the vents of ships, making them hard to reach and difficult to kill. They do however, prefer warm enviornments for their eggs, laying them near power cores somewhere, but still in a hard to reach place. They typically lay about a dozen eggs, these some maggots are instantly hungry, so verispids often grow thin feeding them and not themselves until the maggots grow to full size in exactly one month. The fully grown maggots then try to mate as many times as possible before they die in two years.