Spiked Floater

For lack of a better name, I am currently calling this creature a 'Spiked Floater'. An avid hunter, it uses its barbed forward attack spike (left) to gouge prey. Its anterior grasping appendages unfurl and draw the captured/wounded prey item to its mouth. It floats slowly above the ground at a height of 20- 300 feet, held aloft by several internal chambers that produce hydrogen gas. Its tough waxy skin resists puncture, and rear-facing defensive spikes prevent ambush form behind. The floater propels itself with two pairs of reversible jets, and can move effortlessly in any direction. The feathered, frond-like appendages on its front are in fact external parasites that attach themselves to its skin so as to be within reach of the floater's mouth. When the floater feeds, these parasites bend their flexible bodies toward the captured prey and use the feathered apparatus to glean scraps and pieces of the dismembered foodstuff. Several species of spiked floater occur on this planet, and range in size from a minuscule 3 inches to gargantuan 30 foot long monsters that live higher up in the atmosphere. This particular species is a bit on the small side- maxing out at around 6 feet in length.