Ranging Bloyster

The Ranging Bloyster resembles a large Toady Bloyster, and is possibly named for its longer mouthparts or increased travel range. These creatures have an affinity for shiny objects and will track your active pilot's light beacon, making them impossible to approach unnoticed from behind.

This creature is found only on the last sublevel (7) of the Shower Room, Sublevel 7 of the Hole of Heroes along with four Cannon Beetle Larvae, and the last sublevel (2) of the Giant's Bath in Challenge Mode. If you and a skilled friend are doing a 2-Player Challenge mode, you can kill the bloyster in a matter of seconds without losing a single Pikmin extremely easily.

This is sort of a glitch, but the Ranging Bloyster can in some way, still "live" after you kill it. If you kill a Ranging Bloyster while its antenna is still glowing, and if you're lucky for whatever reason, the tail left behind by the Bloyster will still glow and beep, however, it will only glow if you take it in the ship. When it is put in, there will be a strange light that appeared on the ship. It is more explanatory if the player has seen it himself/herself. Of course, if this happens, your game is not faulty, nor will this help you in any way.

Olimar's Notes
This species of mollusk has shed its shell through the process of evolution. What appears as a flower-shaped protrusion on its back actually functions as its gills. The ranging bloyster ensnares small animals with its sticky tentacles, reels them in, and consumes them. Observers have noted that this creature exhibits a keen interest in flashing objects. It often tries to capture and ingest these objects. Researchers and explorers equipped with flashing indentification beacons should be wary when in close proximity to this dangerous predator.

Louie's Notes
The gills are best prepared deep-fried in an herb and bread-crumb batter. Also tasty poached and drenched with fine soy sauce.

Strategies
This beast can be difficult to defeat in a timely manner, but with the right strategy, can be overcome without losing any Pikmin. The Bloyster will hunt your active captain and will change its target accordingly if you switch. However, there is a slight delay between the time it stops chasing one captain and starts on the other. Use this to your advantage by placing each captain on either side of the beast. Lure it towards one, then switch with (Y) and quickly toss Pikmin onto its vulnerable tail. Call them back when the Bloyster turns to face you, then repeat.

Another way to deal with this boss is to attack it with a single group of Pikmin led by both captains. Because it pauses slightly in order to track the leading captain, the idea is to keep switching control of your captains every time it turns your active captain's color. In this way, it is very easy to simply walk past it, step behind it and throw Pikmin at the bulb on its tail without trouble. Be sure to call back any Pikmin that get shaken of their target.

A much more time consuming method is to have a 100 strong army, confront the Ranging Bloyster, spray it and then toss Pikmin onto its back. When it unfreezes, simply spray it again, and any Pikmin that were thrown off will leap back on it to continue the assault. Note that this can take multiple ultra bitter sprays and the Pikmin will likely revert back to leaf Pikmin when thrown off, but is a far safer method.

Pikmin:Redemption
These creatures are seen a lot more than in Pikmin 2 and sometimes come in pairs. Luckily these are easier than those in Pikmin 2.