The first sandtrout formed a glove over his hand, and the next ones linked to it by their cilia until most of his body was covered. The absorption of the sandtrout onto his body acted as a second skin, as well as provided him with immense speed and strength. This was consistent with the physical evidence that could be found on Arrakis, namely salt beds that had apparently once been great seas.Īs part of his Golden Path, Leto allowed several sandtrout to attach themselves to his body, so that he could turn himself into a giant Sandworm. Arrakis had been a wet planet, and when the sandtrout arrived, they encysted all the water, so that they could metamorphosize into the sandworm. According to Leto, the sandtrout had proliferated to the point where existing ecosystems could no longer deal with them. When Leto Atreides II looked into the many lives of his ancestors in Other Memory, he came to realise that the sandtrout were introduced to Arrakis from another planet, eons prior. Sandtrout had the ability to transform a whole terraformed planet into desert by encapsulating large bodies of water, allowing the Sandworm to survive, as Sandworms cannot survive in a water-logged environment. Also, children in Fremen sietches would play games with them to entertain themselves, such as using them as gloves, or attaching them to sticks.

If squeezed, they excrete an extremely potent form of spice which gave one an incredible energy boost.

Many would die as part of the natural life cycle of the planet the ones that survived would eventually grow, over a period of thousands of years, into the giant sandworms that lurked in the depths of Arrakeen sands. Sandtrout existed in vast numbers in the sands of Arrakis. They were described as resembling large freshwater leeches, amorphous blobs or slugs. Sandtrout were the larval form of sandworms on the planet Arrakis. Sandworm larval stage- Illustration for the Dune Encyclopedia by Matt Howarth This article or section refers to elements from Original Dune.

Dune sandworm