Symbiotic life form - the Eel Type Parasite

Great description of the entire "Internecivus Raptus" {which means..."Murderous Thief"} and it's [u][i][b]Complete & Utter Dependence on assimilation[/b][/i][/u] with the DNA of other life forms.

resistance is futile ^_^

"Eel Type Parasite" I like that. By the way, where do you get the 'grew going mad' bit from? Seems there are two sides to the conflict.

ask Kane about the "mutual benefits "

It's not symbiotic, but parasitic. Yes, it's acquiring genetic traits from the host- but certainly not for the host's benefit. If that were the case, then Kane on the Nostromo would have met a different fate.

But given its short life span it would have to be getting some sort of benefit from the process, No?

this is hard to say since parasites in general dont want to harm or kill their host because it screws them too. the problem comes from parasites that are specific to a species infecting another. just like tape worms, they are evolved to live in something like a pachyderm. they don't hurt such a large animal and are tiny by comparison, and many parasites DO benefit the host as well as taking away from it.... but have a 10 foot parasite jammed inside a human host who is not compatible then you get some nasty problems. we have little bugs all over us right now eating our dead skin flakes but to another microscopic creature our skin mites are probably horrifying beasts! who knows, the slug creature may not be evil by nature and have its purpose but introducing humans to it was a huge mistake?

very sweet food for thought there, thanks.

no problem, i have a bit of an obsession with parasites ^_^ i think it is interesting that this movie seems to have a parasite theme and use worm like creatures. there are countless worm parasites that affect the human body in so many ways, the movie can have such a broad amount angles they can play. some worms have even been purposely introduced to humans with autoimmune diseases as a treatment and many times it has very positive affects. (if the person can mentally get past the fact they have worms up their butt, lol) there are tons of parasites in nature that even control the mind of their host to force them to crate a perfect habitat and have better chances to procreate. one off the top of my head is the "crazy cat lady" parasite aka Toxoplasma gondii

Fascinating discussion... to me the xenomorph is interesting from a biological standpoint because its selfish to the [i]extreme[/i]. I agree many parasites contribute something to their host but all the xeno does is keep you alive long enough to reach maturity. The facehugger gives you oxygen while the developing chestburster takes in nutrients at a pretty aggressive clip (Kane was thirsty and ravenous when he came to). This actually wouldn't be so terrible except we know the birth is lethal. Then it grows/ages rather quickly and (presumably) dies. Now if we stick to Ridley's canon the xeno will turn at least some victims into eggs (always wondered how it did that, by the way). When the whole nightmare is over, all that's left are the eggs. Just pick up the eggs and off we are to the next world for a new round of fun. I can see why Ridley thought they were a biological weapon- it's not designed to kill as efficiently as possible, but to do so as brutally as possible and also be self regenerating in the process.

I agree with the melding with the host bit. I think this is why Holloway seems upset sitting at the end of the bed after being with Shaw. The parasite has not yet compeltely taken over, but does still influence his actions. I do think at some point though the host welcomes the newly found power of having the parasite.

indeed, there are also many real life selfish parasites but the xeno is a mofo! i also wondered how it transformed people into eggs and how it made all the tube-like parts and other textures for the hive... were is that stuff coming from? i saw a comic a long time ago that the xenos used other dead xenos body parts to build hives but that doesnt fit with a single alien who doesnt seem to be shedding any body parts. seems like people only seem to find one skin shed between the chest burster and adult. id also like to see that shedding sequence. is it just one shed and BOOM huge adult, or a few sheds but they didnt have time to find them? soooo many questions>_<

I've had it on my mind that the eel thing is something familiar to the jockeys, but because of their size, not as big a threat to them as it is too humans. It's like handling a small alligator to them. Still dangerous, but they can control it, overpower it. Maybe it is so with the Xenomorph. It towers over us, but would be a lot shorter than the jockeys, maybe even weaker. Ha, imagine a jockey punching a xeno out when it starts to act the fool. But they still don't want to be caught unawares by it or facehuggers. I believe the xenos can make eggs from that 'resin' they secret. That's how they formed their hive in Aliens, and how they can suspend people from walls.

yeah... but in aliens the resin looked more like a gooey-er version of spider webs and was still a clearish color, different shape and texture from the hive walls , they looked dark grey-black and tubular like the actual alien's appendages. and a simple secretion doesnt fully explain the egg transformation, maybe they can use their goop to mold an egg shape but for the human inside of it to turn into a facehugger? the xeno always seemed like a very simple organism to me like a bug, a single slimey secretion being used to make both biomechanical rooms and a complete DNA re arrangement on a prey item to make new babies seems a bit complicated for this particular "animal".

I believe the resin gets cloudier as it hardens. This can be observed in Aliens as Ripley is tearing away the cocooning from Newt. It's more opaque. The scene in the Prometheus trialer where some kind of similar, tacky substance is being stretched between two fingers possibly demonstrates this as well I don't know about facehuggers being formed from humans. Someone else around here speculated that humans are used as a supply of nutrients for the egg, slowly eaten away or dissolved. If the secretion has these organic and building properties, the species itself could be valuable to the SJs or Weyland. Could also explain the mural, in that these creatures that can manufacture such a substance could be held in high regard, like some pagan animal god.