Yapping Maw

Yapping Maws are large predatory ambush organisms that inhabited several regions of the planet Zebes before its untimely destruction: Lower Brinstar, Norfair, Lower Norfair, and Maridia. The vast differences in the various ecosystems that reside in indicate that they are an extremely hardy species. They naturally hide beneath some sort of generally overlooked area, such as the surface of a pool of water, where they lie in wait for an unsuspecting organism to pass by. At first opportunity, they will bite their mandibles together and strike out with help of their extremely long necks, before latching onto the surprised opponent and dragging them down into their lair to feed. It is commonplace for Yapping Maws to build their burrows amongst other deadly traps, such as spike beds; this is likely to help subdue larger prey, and if a prey item cannot be subdued properly, they often will let go, but may return to attack it again soon - this indicates that they may not be tremendously intelligent. While they can be frozen in place with weapons such as Ice Beams, they soon will thaw out and continue their activities without any obvious permanent damage.

As with all other species native to Zebes, it became extinct in the wild when Samus Aran finally destroyed the evil Mother Brain.