Sandbelching Meerslug

Sandbelching Meerslug
Appears in	Pikmin 3
Scientific name	Gastropoidae anguilii
Family	Meerslug
Areas	Tropical Wilds
Mission Mode Collect Treasure! levels	None
Mission Mode Battle Enemies! levels	None
Side Story levels	None
Bingo Battle levels	None
Attacks	Shoot clumps of sand, create sand pit and eat Pikmin

The Sandbelching Meerslug (オオスナフラシ^?, lit.: "Giant Sand Rainer") is a boss in Pikmin 3 and the third major boss encountered in story mode. It is a light brown, amphibian-like creature resembling a lamprey, with very small eyes, thick purple lips and two rows of large, sharp teeth. Further down its body, it gets wider and harbors spike-like protrusions. It is one of the largest Pikmin bosses to date.

Upon attempting to dig up the cell phone in the middle of the arena, the Meerslug appears from beneath the sand, eats the phone, and begins to attack the leaders and the Pikmin. It tunnels beneath the side, causing waves of sand to appear across the surface, which signifies its location. It will try to trap and eat Pikmin by creating a sinkhole in the sand that sucks them in. The eating attack it performs at the bottom of its sinkhole does the most damage to leaders out of any attack in the game, taking out 30% of a leader's health in a single chomp. It can also spit balls of sand, which can plant Pikmin. These planted Pikmin can still be eaten by the Meerslug. Upon its defeat, it will spit out the phone as well as the Crimson Banquet, which breaks into pieces upon hitting the ground.

Recovering its corpse can prove to be a difficult task at times. Due to the game's physics, it is possible for the creature to flail intensely^[1], and at times, it can get stuck inside a wall, unable to be carried.^[2]

Stats[edit]

Weight	Max. carriers	Seeds	Value	Health
20	30 (normally)	50	N/A	10000

Notes

Alph's comments

US version

“Structural flaw: weak hide
Weight: 20

It mostly stays below the sand but sometimes sticks its head out to lob balls of sand at Pikmin. If they're hit and stuck in the sand, they don't have any good defenses against it digging its hole beneath them. It reminds me a little of going to the beach, and how older kids would bury me in the sand. How I miss those days! But I've got to focus on saving Koppai for now.”

European version

“Structural flaw: weak hide
Weight: 20

It mostly stays below the sand, but sometimes sticks its head out to lob balls of sand at Pikmin. If they're hit and stuck in the sand, they don't have any good defences against it digging its hole beneath them. It reminds me a little of going to the beach, and how older kids would bury me in the sand. How I miss those days! But I've got to focus on saving Koppai for now.”

Brittany's comments

US version

“I try to get close and it just hides in its dumb, sandy hole. So I move away and it still hides behind those sand balls it's always tossing around. What's it got against me, huh?!”

European version

“I try to get close and it just hides in its stupid sandy hole. So I move away and it still hides behind those sand balls it's always chucking around. What's it got against me, eh?!”

Charlie's comments

“The area where we found this creature was practically a paradise. I still want to go back there and swim around in the sand with my rubber ducky. Maybe the crew would let me do it if I called it a training exercise.”

Louie's comments

“These are crowd-pleasers! Soak overnight to remove remaining sand. Slice cleaned meat into thick pieces and place on grill. Then apply a generous coating of barbecue sauce and cook until sticky and crispy.”

Olimar's comments

“Sandbelching Meerslug
Gastropoidae anguilii
Meerslug family

This giant, limbless invertebrate has a distinctive large orifice. It sets a cone-shaped trap in its sandy lair and waits for prey to fall into it. The main orifice serves as both mouth and anus. When it inhales sand, the grains go through its intestinal canal and come out polished and hardened when they are ejected. It's sensitive to sound and vibration. The best time to catch it off guard is when it jumps out from the sand after being startled.”

Pikmin 3 Prima Guide[edit]

“The Sandbelching Meerslug is located in the Tropical Wilds. This creature has two basic attacks. While burrowed in the sand, the Sandbelching Meerslug creates a large pit that traps victims until they can be devoured. When the creature emerges from the sand, it attacks its targets by spitting large projectiles.

When the Sandbelching Meerslug emerges from the sand, send a large squad of Pikmin charging in to attack. When the creature takes enough damage, it's launched into the air and temporarily incapacitated.

When the Sandbelching Meerslug creates a large pit, you can either avoid the attack or toss a Bomb Rock into the creature's mouth to temporarily incapacitate the creature.

Whenever you manage to incapacitate the Sandbelching Meerslug, send your Pikmin charging in to deal heavy damage.”

Behavior[edit]

The Sandbleching Meerslug moves quickly and does not show itself while on the move. Due to its enormous size, however, it can easily be seen burrowing just below the layer of sand in its arena. It will chase any leaders or Pikmin down and then follow up by emerging from the sand, where it will spit sand balls, and at the same time be left vulnerable, or burrow deeper into the sand and create a sinkhole to bring Pikmin down to its mouth, where they are eaten at a considerable rate. When damaged enough or fed a bomb rock, the Meerslug will be forced from the ground and lay as a massive target for all Pikmin for a moment. Afterwards, it will burrow back into the ground and repeat its attacks.

The Sandbelching Meerslug has a few basic attacks, but has many ways of executing them. It will either create a sinkhole to draw in and eat any Pikmin, including those which are buried, or shoot boulders of sand (hence its name) to bury the Pikmin. As its health gets lower, the attacks get more dangerous:

At about half of its health, it will spiral around the arena, and turn the whole location into a sinkhole.
Below half of its health, it will abruptly come to a stop and create another sinkhole. This time, the sinkhole is so steep that it is impossible to climb out of it.
It can start shooting out giant sand boulders, which can bury many more Pikmin.
It can fire many smaller boulders in rapid succession.

Defeat Bosses![edit]

The Sandbelching Meerslug is the third opponent in Defeat Bosses!, and the player is given 13 minutes to kill it. The entrance/exit to the sandy arena is blocked off by a "keep out" sign. The player starts with Alph (player 1's starting leader), Brittany (player 2's starting leader), and Charlie. Their order in Pikmin 3 is Alph, Brittany, Charlie, and in Pikmin 3 Deluxe the order is Brittany, Charlie, Alph. The player also starts with 20 Red, 20 Rock, and 10 Yellow Pikmin that have to be recalled due to the Meerslug's introduction. Dotted around the arena are buried bud and flower Pikmin. Behind the start are Reds in groups of 10 and 5. The south side of the arena has 5 Reds and 10 Rocks, as well as two bomb rocks on a ledge outside of the arena. On the far side from the entrance is a group of 10 Reds, and to the north is 5 Rocks and 5 Yellows, for a total of 50 Red, 35 Rock, and 15 Yellow Pikmin. The dirt mounds that originally contained the Meerslug's Data Files now have 5 bomb rocks (north) and 3 bombs rocks (southwest).

The following table lists what medal the player gets according to the time they take:^[3]

Bronze	Silver	Gold	Platinum
8:00 - 6:01	6:00 - 4:01	4:00 - 3:01	3:00 - 0:00

In Pikmin 3, these are the world records for the challenge, as obtained from the in-game global rankings feature. The following scores were retrieved on December 9^th, 2015.

Solo: 1:04
Co-op: 1:09

In Pikmin 3 Deluxe, these are the world records for the challenge, as obtained from the in-game global rankings feature. The following scores were retrieved on May 29^th, 2021.

Solo: 0:56
Co-op: 0:57

Strategy[edit]

The following article or section contains guides.
The strategies presented may not be the only ones or the best ones.

Attacks[edit]

The Sandbelching Meerslug has two basic attacks, but has many different ways to execute them. As its health gets lower, the attacks get more dangerous.

There are three ways it can make a sinkhole:

It will stop and burrow underground to create a sinkhole. Pikmin that aren't fast enough to escape will be eaten at the bottom.
At about half of its health, it will spiral around the arena for a few seconds and turn the whole arena into a sinkhole.
Below half of its health, it will abruptly come to a stop and create a steep sinkhole.

It can also attack by shooting sand:

It will rise out of the sand and shoot 3 small sand boulders that can bury your Pikmin. Pluck them to get them out of the sand.
After a quarter of its health is gone, it will shoot 5-7 sand boulders, a bit faster than before.
Below half health, it can start shooting out 3 giant sand boulders, which can bury many more Pikmin.
Below half health, it can also shoot many smaller boulders in rapid succession.

If Pikmin holding bomb rocks are buried, the bomb rock will instantly go off. As such, it may be wise to keep your bomb rock Pikmin with another leader.

Basic strategy[edit]

When it emerges from the ground, it attacks by spitting large clumps of sand to bury its prey, hence its name. If Pikmin are hit by the clumps of sand, they will be buried back in the ground. Beware, as this enemy is exceptional in that not only can it bury your Pikmin, but it can kill them while they are underground too as sprouts that get sucked in are devoured as if they were free running Pikmin. Try to have another leader pluck the buried Pikmin while the active one continues the fight.

After its health wheel is in the yellow, it will move quickly in a circling fashion before creating a sinkhole that affects the whole arena, so it is highly recommended to retreat to the stone area where you entered from. After this, it will return to normal speed, but the holes it creates will have walls, meaning the Pikmin can no longer escape. It will also begin shooting sand balls with less intervals between them. However, when it does this, it needs a bit more time than normal to lump up the sand, leaving an optimal time to swarm it.

It is possible to immobilize the enemy by overwhelming it with Pikmin. This causes it to shoot out of the ground and lie on the floor for short while, leaving it vulnerable to further assaults. The best way to perform this is to use the charge command (throwing Pikmin doesn't work well here; if you can't get enough Pikmin to attack it at once, it will simply shake them off). Be sure to get very close to it before doing this, otherwise, the shifting sand will make the Pikmin lose their target and stop halfway towards it, leaving them under idle status and highly vulnerable to getting buried under sand balls.

Bomb rocks can also be thrown into the creature's mouth whilst it is creating a vortex to cause damage. This also causes it to jump out of the sand, which makes it the only of getting your Pikmin army to safety should you and your Pikmin be caught in its deep wall sinkhole. Therefore, it's highly recommended that you harvest all the bomb rocks in the arena before starting the fight. When you use the charge command, Pikmin holding bomb rocks will gather in their own group away from the action and when a Pikmin with a bomb rock is thrown into the creature's sinkhole, it'll drop the rock and run out of the hole without even needing to be whistled. This means that there's almost no drawbacks in getting the bomb rocks early.

Upon defeat, it expels another cellphone, albeit more modern in appearance than the one dropped by the Armored Mawdad, and a relatively small watermelon, which bursts into smaller pieces after being expelled.

Expert strategy[edit]

This is a much quicker way to attack the Meerslug at any point. Rather than using bomb rocks to force the beast out of its hole, an alternate strategy is to swarm its lips with a large number of Red Pikmin. When the swarming Pikmin reach its lips, one will get trapped in its mouth, allowing all the others to attack while the boss is busy. If most of the Pikmin attack it at once, it will be forced out of the ground and become vulnerable, saving the trapped Pikmin in the process.

Using this strategy, the boss can be attacked at the same time that it is trying to attack, allowing for it to be defeated in under two minutes. However, this strategy is very dangerous, as if the Pikmin charge in a line to attack the Meerslug's lips, they will not deal enough damage in time to save the trapped Pikmin, who will then be eaten. It is advised that your Red Pikmin are flowered before battle so they don't lag behind when trying to charge.

Another strategy is to skip a cycle by forcing the boss to eat multiple bombs at once. This can skip up to 2 cycles.

Badges[edit]

In Pikmin 3 Deluxe, there is a badge the player can gain from the Sandbelching Meerslug:

Duel in the Dunes: Defeating the Sandbelching Meerslug.

Duel in the Dunes. The badge shows the Sandbelching Meerslug.

Technical information[edit]

Pikmin 3 technical information (?)
Internal name	`arijigoku`
HP	10000
Rock Pikmin throw hits to kill	400
White Pikmin ingestions to kill	0
Bomb rock explosions to kill	20
Bomb rock ingestions to kill	10
Number of direct hits on top to kill	0
Damage to leaders	30
Territory radius	500
Mission Mode value	0

Other information[edit]

Musical theme: Boss battle

Naming[edit]

This article or section is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.

See more: Meerslug family#Naming.

"Belching" is slang for "vomiting" or "spitting", so "sandbelching" means "spitting sand". The word "Meerslug" might come from "Meerkat", and "slug". Its Japanese name is オオスナフラシ^?. オオ^? means "giant", スナ^? means "sand", and フラシ^? means "rainer" (as in to cause something to rain down). Internally, it is called arijigoku, which means "antlion pit", referring to it causing pits to draw in Pikmin to eat.

Its scientific name is Gastropoidae anguili.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	オオスナフラシ^? Oo Suna Furashi	Giant Sand Rainer
Chinese	巨齒沙蟲	giant teeth sandstorm
French	Dégueulimace	Portmanteau of dégeulis (puke) and limace (slug)
German	Wühlmaul	Rummaging Mouth
Spanish (NoA)	Babosa arenosa	Sandy slug
Spanish (NoE)	Babosa arenosa	Sandy slug

Gallery[edit]

E3 2013 screenshot of a Sandbelching Meerslug.
The Sandbelching Meerslug launching boulders.
The Meerslug creating a sinkhole.
The Meerslug making a large sinkhole, as big as the arena.
The Meerslug making a sinkhole with a sharp drop in it.
The spoils of defeating the Sandbelching Meerslug: the Crimson Banquet broken into pieces and the Folded Data Glutton.
The Sandbelching Meerslug seen from a different angle.
The Sandbelching Meerslug forced above ground and immobilized.
The Sandbelching Meerslug being defeated.
The Folded Data Glutton next to a dead Sandbelching Meerslug.
A close up of the Sandbelching Meerslug's face.
Rock Pikmin carry a dead Sandbelching Meerslug.
The first data file for the Sandbelching Meerslug.
The second data file for the Sandbelching Meerslug.
Defeat Bosses! icon.

References[edit]

^ YouTube video demonstrating the corpse flailing about
^ Miiverse post where a user complains of a stuck Sandbelching Meerslug on Wayback Machine
^
The values in the Prima Guide are incorrect. These are the values used in the game's files, as per content/CMCmn/system/mission_set/miset_misBoss3.szs/misBoss3.txt:
```
# RuleData
{
	# BeatBossMission version
	20130126 
	# CID
	33554506 
	# GradeTime
	3 1 # プラチナ
	4 1 # 金
	6 1 # 銀
	8 1 # 銅
}
```

[1] YouTube video demonstrating the corpse flailing about

[2] Miiverse post where a user complains of a stuck Sandbelching Meerslug on Wayback Machine

[3] The values in the Prima Guide are incorrect. These are the values used in the game's files, as per content/CMCmn/system/mission_set/miset_misBoss3.szs/misBoss3.txt:
# RuleData { # BeatBossMission version 20130126 # CID 33554506 # GradeTime 3 1 # プラチナ 4 1 # 金 6 1 # 銀 8 1 # 銅 }

[1]

[2]

[3]