Species 8472 has a roughly humanoid head and torso on a tripedal base. Technologically advanced civilization. Home Dimension - a higher dimension which is composed of liquid rather than empty space, "fluidic space". Species 8472 are undoubtedly one of the most unusual organic life forms ever encountered by the Federation. Their origins lie in 'fluidic space' - a higher dimension which is apparently composed of liquid rather than the empty space of our own universe. 8472 are the only species in their dimension, and had no conception of other life forms until the Borg invaded their territory. Unfortunately - for the Borg- species 8472 have an incredibly efficient immune system; any form of biological or technological intrusion into their tissue is instantly rejected and destroyed. This renders them immune to Borg nanoprobes, and hence incapable of assimilation. In addition, their dense structure is highly resistant to many forms of energy such as transporters and weapons.
Physically, species 8472 has a roughly humanoid head and torso on a tripedal base. There is a mouth but they do not communicate by speech, instead relying on telepathy. The extent of their telepathic abilities are unknown, but are thought to be very long ranged, perhaps even trans-dimensional. Beyond this little is known about this enigmatic species - few have survived a close encounter long enough to gather comprehensive data!
Species 8472 use organic biomass ships (which appear to be actual living life form as opposed to just organic as evidenced by the vertebrae seen upon components entering the ship). Each biomass ship has a crew complement of one. The ships seem to be impervious to Federation (or Borg, for that matter) technology: ship sensors can't penetrate the surface of the biomass ship, transporters can't lock onto it, and the tractor beam has no affect on it. It has been demonstrated that the biomass can dissolve through the hulls of Borg ships and therefore can probably dissolve through the hull of the Voyager. Wherever Species 8472 came from, their ships use warp propulsion with anti-matter technology. Inside the ship, there are organic conduits which carry an electro-dynamic fluid. This quite possibly could be an energy source. There is also a binary matrix laced with neural peptides, which could be their idea of a computer core. The biomass ships have the ability to regenerate themselves.Species 8472 is telepathic in nature, and at this point, it is unknown if they have a spoken language or not. They emit a bio-electric field that disrupts the transporter, preventing getting a lock on or near them. Narrowing the transporter confinement beam doesn't work. The bio-electric field also prevents tricorders from being able to localize the location of Species 8472. The cells of this species are densely coded and have more than one hundred times the DNA a human cell would have. They have an extraordinary immune response. Anything that enters the cell membrane are immediately destroyed. Therefore, the Borg can't assimilate them. They are highly resistant to all forms of technology. However, species 8472 is vulnerable to the modified nanoprobes. Species 8472 is made of the same material as their ships. They are capable of living in the vacuum of space with no life support. They can also crawl along the hull of a starship without additional support. They are also capable of regeneration. Species 8472 don't particularly like being in humanoid form and having to do things such as sleep, bi-pedal movement, and breathing oxygen. Species 8472 attacks with their claws whenever they can. This will transfer their cells to the victim. These cells, once in the victim's blood, will begin to consume the body from the inside out, essentially eating the victim alive. The victim will be conscious during this process because all sedatives and other treatments to the infection are neutralized immediately. While the fire power of one ship is extraordinary, they can combine their fire power by forming a circle with a number of other ships, with one ship in the center of the circle. All the ships fire at the main center ship, which collects the fire power and amplifies it out, causing enough fire power to destroy a planet. Species 8472 are highly intelligent and devious. When they enter the enemy's ship, it will do whatever is the most efficient way to destroy the ship.
Even less is known about the culture and philosophy of species 8472. In the one known telepathic contact with them the message 'the weak shall perish' was transmitted; although worrying given their numbers and level of technology, the outlook of a whole species can hardly be judged from one contact with one individual. For the moment contact with 8472 has been broken off.
Species 8472 were first spotted in Borg space in 2373. Conflict between Species 8472 and the Borg began immediately. The Federation starship USS Voyager came across Species 8472 towards the end of 2373. The information contained in this database has been downloaded from Voyager's computers. Species 8472 have a cold malevolence to them. Their only desire is to conquer, and there is no negotiating with them. Like the Borg ideology of assimilation and "resistance
is futile", Species 8472's ideology is "The Weak Will Perish". Species 8472 believe that we have contaminated their space by entering it, and believe that our galaxy is a threat to their genetic purity. They want to purge our galaxy of our impurity. Based on their experience with the USS Voyager and its alliance with the Borg collective, they believed that Starfleet was an invasion force, same as the Borg. Species 8472 planned to invade the Federation by impersonating humans and other Federation races. They have incredibly detailed information about Starfleet and human culture, leading to speculation that Species 8472 has already infiltrated the Federation. However, some of their facts are inaccurate, which is the best way to figure out that they aren't who they appear to be.
The last report concerning species 8472 revealed they had returned to their dimension. They should still be considered a threat to the Federation.
