Unagaetria (oon-ha-tee-a)

Unagaetria are colonies of parasitic protozoa that are more commonly referred to as zombie vines. They have earned this nickname due to the unique way that they spread through all parts of its hosts dying body, forming vine like structures around the hosts frame which allow the parasite to hijack the creatures body and control its movements even as it begins to decay. They are able to survive for extended periods of time with little to no nutrients and can reproduce asexually meaning that they are extremely difficult to exterminate, and any attempts to do so have been unsuccessful in the long term.
The Unagaetria infects its host in three phases, first they are consumed by the host animal and gradually begin sucking vital nutrients from the creature as the Unagaetria grows, spreading itself around the body as it does, in the second phase is when the organism begins to hijack the host creatures body, emiting small electrical shocks that stimulate the muscles and restricting other muscles in order to control the organisms movements, the final stage us when the hosts body begins to break down as the top layers of flesh begin to break away and decay the vine like structures are exposed, at this point the parasite will direct the dead or dying creature into an open area where they are an easy target for predators and lie in wait to be re-consumed by another creature for the cycle to repeat.
During most of this process the Unagaetria will survive off the nutrients it sucks form its host but during the later stages when the body has less nutrients to go around the parasite can switch to consuming the flesh of its host, this adaptation also allows them to survive for longer after the host has died and stopped producing nutrients. It is currently unknown if the Unagaetria have any limitations over what creatures they are able to infect since, while they are most commonly found in carnivorous and omnivorous creatures, there have been rare cases where they have been found in animals that are herbivores or insectivores. It has also been observed that some creatures are able to recognizes the vine like structures in an Unagaetria infected carcass and while avoid eating that corpse.

Habitat : They live in the bodies of other creatures and have been found virtually everywhere.  Classifications : Lethal, Nanoscopic-Minuscule, Common Lifespan : Due to the fact that they can creates clones of them selves (asexual reproduction) it is difficult to discern the lifespan of an individual cell but it is believed that most only make it through about two or three cycles. Diet : They mainly feed off of the nutrients in the hosts body but they are also able to eat the flesh of the host as well though they only resort to this if they cannot gain enough nutrients form the hosts body.