Space Jellyfish

Universe :	Prime Timeline
Species Name :	Space Jellyfish [1]
Quadrant :	Alpha

This species were first encountered by the USS Enterprise-D in 2364. They are spacegoing creatures of immense size, capable of converting matter into energy and back again in almost any form. This allows them to reconfigure their bodies at will into almost any shape or form. One of the creatures had landed on the Deneb IV, injured and desperately short of energy. The Bandi fed the creature enough to keep it alive but not to let it leave the planet, essentially enslaving it. [1]

The Bandi forced the creature to configure itself into a luxurious Starbase, which they offered to the Federation. However, whilst negotiations for the use of the base were in progress the creature's mate arrived, in the form of a large spacecraft, to attack the Bandi for what they had done. Captain Picard was able to uncover the truth of the situation and fed the grounded creature enough energy to return to space, where it reunited with its mate and departed. Counsellor Troi reported that both creatures were extremely grateful for the assistance. [1]

In 2380 the USS Titan encountered large numbers of Space Jellyfish whilst exploring the Gum Nebula region. The avioanoid Pa'haquel hunted the "Jellies", killing them and then using their corpses as spacecraft with which to hunt both more Jellyfish and other, more harmful spacegoing life forms. The Jellyfish were horrified by both the hunt itself and the use of their dead, which they regarded as akin to being hunted by "zombies". The Titan crew were able to broker a deal between the Pa'haquel and the Jellyfish whereby they would co-operate together in herding the more dangerous life forms away from planets inhabited by sentient life and into regions where they could feed without harm. [2]

Colour key

Canon source

Backstage source

Novel source

DITL speculation

References

#	Series	Season	Source	Comment
1	TNG	1	Encounter at Farpoint
2			Star Trek : Titan, Book 3 - Orions Hounds

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Last updated : 27 Jan 2015

Series :	TNG Season 1
Episode :	Encounter at Farpoint