The Bloom Parasite is a small, aggressive infected organism in Subnautica 2. It is a beaked, armless cephalopod, roughly squid-shaped, that feeds on the blood and body fluids of larger animals. Its databank entry gives the generated name Teuthis vrykolakas and describes it as massively infected by a large RNA virus that has taken over its behavior.
It matters more than its size suggests. Early Access 1.1 reworked the Bloom Parasite into the primary encounter creature for Bloom areas and rebalanced those encounters in the Coral Gardens and the ruins, so it is now the organism a player meets most often when working near an uncured infestation.
Appearance
The front half is covered in mottled grayish-silver hide with overlapping scale-like plating, with two pairs of long translucent leaf-shaped fins carrying a faint pinkish-red inner membrane, one pair rising from the head and a matching pectoral pair sloping down beneath. There are no visible gills. The anterior tip ends in a dark chitinous beak that splits vertically, with a rigid cyan feeding tube protruding from its centre. The rear half breaks down into a tangle of pale tendrils and exposed tissue, overgrown with large bulbous cyan nodules that are the visible sign of the infection.
Behavior
Bloom Parasites cluster near Angel Combs and around uncured Bloom growths. A parasite that notices a diver briefly stares before rushing in to bite, which gives a short window to move or react. Its databank entry notes that it hunts by scent and magnetic perception rather than sight, uses the beak to cut an incision, and then inserts a rasping tongue and feeds until dislodged or full.
Trait | Detail |
|---|---|
Attitude | Aggressive |
Habitat | Around uncured Bloom growths, commonly near Angel Combs |
Approach | Pauses and stares before charging in to bite |
Sensing | Scent and magnetic perception; the databank describes it as eyeless |
Countermeasure | A pulse from the Sonic Resonator or Feedback Resonator |
Role in the Infestation
The parasite is a vector, not just a nuisance. Its databank assessment says it compulsively spreads its viral payload to hosts and prefers large predators as targets. The virus transfers into the host's nervous system in a way the entry compares to terrestrial rabies, producing increased aggression and vicious guarding behavior around other infected organisms. In practice that means an unusually hostile predator in a Bloom area may be carrying attached parasites, and the recommended response is to resonate the parasites rather than to deal with the predator.
Sonic Vulnerability
Large volumes of the virus form crystals in the parasite's tissue, and those crystals can be disrupted by sonic resonance. This is the one common lifeform the game's own databank describes as being wounded or killed by a tool, which sits alongside rather than against the no-weapons design: the resonator is presented as treatment for an infection, not as a weapon, and the entry closes by noting that most ethical systems assign limited value to parasites while still recommending reflection on the point.