Snavian family

The snavian family (ヘビドリ科^?, lit.: "Snake bird family") consists of serpentine bird creatures that bury themselves underground and ambush surface dwelling prey. The Snavians, specifically Snagrets, are one of most diverse families after the grub-dog family, having adapted to numerous climates and environments across PNF-404.

They are found or referenced in all four Pikmin games, often constituting boss fights. In Pikmin, only Burrowing Snagrets appear, in The Forest of Hope and in Challenge Mode. In Pikmin 2, they appear in greater numbers and variety, particularly in the Snagret Hole. In Pikmin 3, a Burrowing Snagret also appears in Twilight River, and in Mission Mode, and in the Nintendo Switch remake, Burrowing Snagrets appear in multiple Side Stories. Finally, Burrowing Snagrets and Downy Snagrets, their juvenile forms, appear in the Blossoming Arcadia and a handful of caves.

Snagrets, which is the main type of enemy in this family, are in the Shiropedes genus.

Members[edit]

Burrowing Snagret[edit]

Main article: Burrowing Snagret.

Scientific name: Shiropedes anacondii

The Burrowing Snagret is an enemy in the Pikmin games that hides underground, waiting to burst out when Pikmin approach. They are able to quickly snap up Pikmin on the ground with their beaks. Although the Snagret's whole body is vulnerable, it sustains most damage when its head is attacked. When killed, it explodes, yielding many Pellets in Pikmin, leaving only its head in Pikmin 2, and leaving the entire corpse (revealing it to have a single foot) in Pikmin 3. In the second game, they are smaller and have lower health, making them less of a threat, and in Pikmin 3, if they miss a peck, their beak gets stuck in the ground momentarily.

Pileated Snagret[edit]

Main article: Pileated Snagret.

Scientific name: Shiropedes ambulatria

The Pileated Snagret is a larger, rarer, and more dangerous species of the Snavian family. It has a green, scaly body, and a bright orange head. It is called "pileated" because it has a crest of feathers on its head, and its eyes are decorated by some eyebrow-like features. The Pileated Snagret behaves much like the Burrowing Snagret, but it is able to completely emerge from the ground and hop around on one clawed foot. This means it can chase its prey, and makes its head harder to reach.

Downy Snagret[edit]

Main article: Downy Snagret.

Scientific name: Shiropedes anacondii (fledgling)

The Downy Snagret is a young Burrowing Snagret, which hops around on land rather than burrowing. They sometimes spawn from eggs when broken.

Naming[edit]

"Snavian" is a portmanteau of "snake" and "avian", given their snake-like bodies and bird heads. All known members of this family use the word "Snagret" in their name, which seems to be a combination of the words "snake" or "snag", which means "to catch", and "egret", a kind of bird resembling the Snagrets. Their Japanese names also use the words ヘビガラス^?, meaning "snake crow"; this is because of the enemies themselves being a combination of a snake and a bird – likely a crow.

The genus Shiropedes comes from 白^?, meaning white in Japanese and pedes, meaning foot in Latin; these originate from the Burrowing Snagret's Japanese name オジロヘビガラス^?, which means "White-tailed snake crow".

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ヘビドリ科^? Hebi dori ka	Snake bird family
Chinese (traditional)	蛇雞科 Shé jī kē	Snake fowl family
Chinese (simplified)	蛇雞科 Shé jī kē	Snake fowl family
French	snabreks	Snagrets
German	Ornipenten	Ornipents	Portmanteau of "orni" (Latin prefix for bird related things) and "serpente" (Latin for snake)
Italian	Serpelli	Serpirds	From "serpente" (snake) and "uccelli" (birds)
Korean	뱀새 과 Baem-Sae Gwa	Snake bird family
Portuguese	Gaviofídeos	Portmanteau of "gavião" (hawk), "ofídio" (Ophidian) and the suffix "-ídeos" (-idae), which is used for naming animal family names
Spanish	Avirpéntidos	Portmanteau of "ave" (bird), "serpentino" (serpentine) and the suffix "-idos" (-idae), which is used for naming animal family names