Sand Cheep

The Sand Cheep (called the Sand-Cheep in the European version ) is a type of enemy that first appears in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and its 3DS remake, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, where it is found in Gwarhar Lagoon. The Nintendo Power guide refers to it as Puffer-Cheep or Puffer Cheep ; the name actually belongs to a variant of Cheep Cheep encountered in in the seabed of Oho Ocean (which is, itself, erroneously referred to as "Puffy Cheep" ).

Sand Cheeps are Blurps with shark fins attached to their back, and are always found with Sharkbones, both of which remain submerged up to their fin in the sand in order to disguise themselves. Both enemies are often fought with Beanerang Bros.

Sand Cheeps also make a brief appearance in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, where they are used as projectiles by Shrooba Divers and bounce over the players.

Battle
In battle, Sand Cheeps and Sharkbones appear under the name ????, with only their fins visible, making it hard to tell them apart. In the remake, the tops of any Sand Cheeps present are visible for a few seconds at the start of the battle, hinting at their position. Sand Cheeps attack by swimming through the sand to approach Mario or Luigi; unlike Sharkbones, they will immediately leap out of the sand and over the target brother. This is designed to contrast with the Sharkbone, whose attack can only be dodged or countered by jumping, as Mario or Luigi will take damage if they jump into the Sand Cheep.

If the brothers perform a Thunder Bros. attack or an Advanced Fire Bros. attack on a group of Sand Cheeps and Sharkbones, any Sharkbones that are hit will immediately attack Mario and/or Luigi, revealing the non-attacking fish to be Sand Cheeps. In addition, targeting one of the underground enemies with the Advanced Thunder Bros. and Chopper Bros. attacks will reveal their identity as Luigi uppercuts them out of the ground.

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, Sand Cheeps are level 24, which makes it distinguishable from the level 25 Sharkbones. The easy mode hints will also show which of the enemies name "????" are Sand Cheeps.