NOVA STRIDER
HUGE COSMOZOAN
Formal translation roechalcagh, Waydi
The Nova Strider is a size huge cosmozoan lifeform. This species appears to be regionally common in the Kelterre and Doza sectors, though it is new to the Federation in general. Adult Nova Striders have been observed to grow to three hundred to four hundred meters in size.
According to observation by the Waydi, Nova Striders travel in small flocks of 6 to 15 individuals, endlessly scouring through space for food sources. On a regular basis, adult striders will inbound on certain planet surfaces to reproduce and lay their eggs, generally favoring warmer, desert-like planets to keep the young secured. The adult striders then abandon the eggs with no deference or guardianship obligations, returning to space to migrate and feed.
The young eventually hatch on their own and make an arduous return trip to space, valiantly expending great deals of effort to escape the planet's gravity. Many do not make it, but for those individuals that do, their lifespan is speculated to be roughly on the order of two to three hundred years.
The Waydi have unable to get close enough to adult Nova Striders to do a real study, but their observation has suggested that adult and extremely elder striders begin to develop micro ecosystems on their shells, where bacterium and simple organic life thrive in gas pockets in a symbiotic relationship with the greater life form.
38th Fleet 'Argo' has done some additional study on the cosmozoan lifeform. Their results can be found in these reports here.