Name: Barghest
Planet: Lemnos
Height: 7'
Weight: 250lbs

The Barghest is a biped but can also run on all fours — it can outrun a sand buggy. When standing it can be as tall as seven feet high. It can weigh up to 250 pounds. Their skin color helps camouflage them behind the sand dunes of Lemnos.

Smart and skillful hunters, the Barghest are the main predators on Lemnos. Before humans and other species came to the planet to work in the mining colonies it fed primarily off other lizard-like creatures called Stingtails.

Very little information has been published about the Barghest. It is a very dangerous creature to study in its natural habitat and does not tolerate scientific tagging. Although initially put down as exaggeration, there is now a documented instance where a Barghest tore through the metal exterior of a land rover with its bare claws. The Barghest is a strong species, able to jump over 12 meters and is able to bite through most materials, including bone. Mining facilities on Lemnos are guarded at all times to keep the more aggressive individuals from scaling the walls. Unless trying to penetrate a mining facility, the Barghest typically keeps its distance from walled enclosures.

Never leave the mining facilities unarmed.

Name: Braxan Hawke
Planet: Gaia Eiridis
Height: 3'
Weight: 20lbs

The Braxan Hawke is about 3 feet (1 m) tall. It has a generous fan of feathers up to 6 to 8 inches long. Although it has feathers it cannot fly, but its long legs and slight body makes it a swift runner. They live in groups of 5 to 20 Hawkes.

The females will lay their fertilized eggs in a simple pit scraped in the ground. The nest may contain 15 to 30 eggs. They are shiny and whitish in color. The eggs are incubated by the females by day and by the male by night. The gestation period is 35 to 45 days. Typically, the male will tend to the hatchlings. The life span of an Braxan Hawke is is from 10 to 20 years.

Name: Cherry Leech
Planet: Gaia Eiridis - aquatic
Size: 12" to 18" long
Weight: 2lbs

Cherry Leeches are parasitic, feeding on the blood of vertebrates such as amphibians, fishes, and mammals (including humans). The most important predators on leeches are the Havakan Trolls. The Cherry Leeches attach to their hosts and remain there until they become full, at which point they detach to digest. Their tentacles are used to connect to a host for feeding, and are known to release an anti-clotting enzyme into the host's blood stream. Due to the anticoagulant that leeches secrete, bites may bleed more than a normal wound after the leech is removed. The effect of the anticoagulant will wear off several hours after the leech is removed and the wound is cleaned. The amount of blood loss from a leech could be dangerous.

Cherry Leeches have a relatively short life span, as little as six months. However, reproduction is a cause of death: males can only live for a few months after mating, and females die shortly after their eggs hatch, for they neglect to eat during the (roughly) one month period spent taking care of their unhatched eggs.

Name: Chimera Peacock
Planet: Gaia Eiridis
Size: 14" long

The Chimera Peacock was named so because it appears to be an amalgam of several different creatures and its colorful plumage — although the female is not as colorful. They are about 8 inches long plus a 6 inch long tail. The Chimera Peacock are actually gliders incapable of true flight. Gliding is achieved by this animal by launching off the tops of trees and extending wings from arms to legs: once they have launched themselves into the air they are highly maneuverable while in flight.

Though their lifespan is only about five years in the wild, Chimera Peacocks often live between 10 and 15 years in captivity. They eat a wide variety of plant food, including nuts, seeds, fruits, fungi, and green vegetation, and they also eat insects and eggs. A Chimera Peacock clutch may range from 3—12 eggs, although 4—6 is average. The eggs take 28 days to hatch.

Chimera Peacocks are listed as wild game, their meat is more tender than rabbit or chicken. You will need a Gaia hunting permit if you intend to hunt them.

Name: The Dartmouth
Planet: Gaia Eiridis
Size: 6' long
Weight: 280lbs

The Darthmouth is a forest dweller. It is a predator, but much like the Stheno will not attack unless it is provoked, although females protecting their nests can be aggressive. When they catch their prey they swallow it whole and can take several days or even weeks to fully digest it. They reproduce by laying eggs, a nest can have up to six eggs. The female will watch the nest until the eggs are hatched. Their young are born able to fend for themselves. The Dartmouth can live up to 35 years of age.

Name: Grubbers
Planet: Gaia Eiridis
Size: 3" long
Weight: 1oz

The Gaia Grubbers are worm-like creatures that thrive in the Gaia forests. They lay over three dozen eggs that take a period of 20 to 30 days to hatch. They reach maturity in one and a half weeks. These proliferous creatures help with the pollination of most of the Gaia flowering vegetation. The regular life span of a Grubber is of approximately 30 to 40 days. The grubbers are also a rare delicacy, but it is prohibited by law to take them off-planet. Only farm-grown grubbers are allowed to be sold and served on Pharos Station.

Name: The Havakan Troll
Planet: Gaia Eiridis
Height: 3'
Weight: 60lbs

The Havakan Troll is a mamal found near the ponds and lakes of Gaia Eiridis where they live in underwater caves. Very shy creatures who will quickly jump in the water at the first sign of danger. They have webbed hands and feet. There are a number of blood vessels near the surface of the skin. When a Havakan Troll is underwater, oxygen is transmitted through the skin directly into the bloodstream. On land, they use their lungs to breathe. Havakan Trolls follow a carnivorous diet, mostly fish.

The Havakan Trolls are social, living in groups of up to a dozen. They communicate using a variety of clicks, whistles and other vocalizations. It is suggested that male Havakans engage in acts of aggression for the same reasons as humans: disputes between companions or even competition for other females. Havakan Trolls are born after a gestation period of 12 months. They are weaned at 9 months and become able to breed at the age of 8 years. The female will have one baby each year until she stops all breeding at the age of about 14 years. Life expectancy is 25 to 35 years.

It has been told that Havakan Trolls have saved swimmers from drowning in the lakes of Gaia Eiridis.

Name: The Firefly Hornet
Planet: Gaia Eiridis
Size: 1.8" to 2.5" long

The Firefly Hornets are similar to Terran wasps, but have the ability to glow like fireflies. They have leathery wings and by emitting high-pitched sounds and listening to the echoes, they locate prey and other nearby objects. This is the process of echolocation. Firefly Hornets are not harmless, their sting is toxic and sometimes, depending on the species, deadly.

The nest is founded by a fertilized female, known as the queen. She generally selects sheltered places like hollow tree trunks. She builds a first series of cells (up to 50) out of chewed tree bark. The cells are arranged in horizontal layers named combs, each cell being vertical and closed at the top. An egg is then laid in each cell that hatches after 5-8 days. This first generation of workers, invariably females, will now gradually undertake all the tasks that were formerly carried out by the queen (foraging, nest building, taking care of the brood, etc) with one exception: egg-laying, which remains exclusive to the queen. At the peak of its population the colony can reach a size of 700 workers.

Humans, Icesorans, Sangune, Rumon and Garian have a low tolerance to the Firefly Hornet sting and it is advised that they carry an antidote as a precaution when they visit Gaia Eiridis.

Name: The Eiridis Molerat
Planet: Gaia Eiridis
Size: 4" long
Weight: 1 to 2oz

The Eiridis Molerat is very much like the Terran molerat. Its leathery skin is soft and hairless. The eye slits are so narrow that the creature appear to have no eyes. It can be found in the caves of Gaia Eiridis where they dig small tunnels to live. They live in colonies of 80 to 100 where only one female, the queen, and the strongest males reproduce.

The queen is usually a bit larger than the rest. The typical litter consists of 12 pups, but can be as large as 27. Gestation takes just ten to 11 weeks, and queens may have four or five litters each year. With all her food and security needs looked after by her minions, the queen is able to devote much of her time and energy to producing and caring for pups. Queens live from 13 to 18 years, and are extremely hostile to other females behaving like queens, or producing hormones for becoming queens. When the queen dies, another female takes her place, sometimes after a violent struggle with her competitors.

Name: Sirsir
Planet: Lemnos

The Sirsir is a flying reptile. Their wings are formed by a sophisticated membrane of skin stretching from the thorax to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. They have long, fully-toothed jaws and a short tail. They have hollow bones, are lightly built, and have small bodies. They have large brains and good eyesight to enable them to spot potential prey from a very long distance.

The Sirsir flap their wings and fly with power. Their wingspan is approximately 6 to 7 feet and weight approximately 12.8 lbs. They can live about 20 to 30 years.

Much like the Braxian Hawke, the Sirsir lay their eggs in a simple pit scraped in the ground. They produce one to three eggs per year. Both the male and female take turns sitting on the eggs. The other parent will hunt for food or defend the nest from predators.

The Sirsir is named so after the sound it makes when it attacks. If you hear them it's already too late.

Name: Stheno
Planet: Gaia Eiridis
Height: 5'
Weight: 200lbs

The Stheno is another cave dweller of Gaia Eiridis. These are carnivorous creatures but will not attack unless provoked. Their eyes are not accustomed to light and will run away from any light source. They feed mainly off smaller creatures like the Eiridis Molerat. The common Stheno has a life span of 25 to 30 years.

They are not social creatures, but once a year a female will call to the males who will fight for the right to mate with her. The gestation period is approximately 335-340 days. The baby is born unable to care for itself for the next 6 months. It will stay with the mother for approximately two years in which the mother teaches it to hunt. Once it is able to care for itself it will walk away from its mother. Although the Stheno will not attack visitors it is not advised to approach them in any way, since they will perceive it as an attack.

Name: Stingtail
Planet: Lemnos
Size: 2' long
Weight: 15lbs

The Stingtails are small creatures, about two feet long. They are the main food source of the Barghest. They are peaceful creatures that feed off insects and the few green plants found on Lemnos similar to cacti. They will use their tails for defense if they are in danger. The sting is not poisonous but will paralyze the attacker for several minutes which will give them enough time to escape. They build nests for their eggs and tend the eggs until hatched. Hatchlings are born ready and able to survive on this harsh planet, they are born roughly a third of the size a full-grown lizard. Their life expectancy is about 10 to 15 years, but only those kept in captivity get to live that long. Due to their mild temper they make good pets. Miners usually keep them around to help keep the bugs and other pests away.