Tarantox

Tarantox is one of the bosses in Super Mario Galaxy. It is found wrapped up in a web inside the Sticky Planet in the Space Junk Galaxy. Its name is a portmanteau of the words tarantula and toxic.

Mario reaches it by using a Sling Pod to break the shell off of the Sticky Planet, revealing its web and the spider in a cocoon. Mario then must use another Sling Pod to tear the web and free the spider, then battle it.

Appearance
Tarantox resembles a combination of Spider from Yoshi's Story and a Scuttle Bug from New Super Mario Bros.. It has three wide oval eyes, wings, and a Snifit-like mouth. Its feet are similar to suction cups. It has horizontal stripes on its body and five glowing buttons on its sides, one much larger than the others. It attacks Mario by flailing its legs around and spitting acid from its smaller buttons. It also has three large buttons on its underside, which Mario must pop.

Combat
This battle practices using Sling Pods. To defeat the spider, Mario must use Sling Pods and throw himself at the largest glowing button (the one on Tarantox's rear) to pop it. The spider will fall upside down, revealing three more red bumps on its underbelly. If Mario pops all of them, the spider will regain its feet and attack faster. If Mario repeats the procedure one more time, Tarantox will fall through its web and go flying into space, revealing a Power Star.

Trivia

 * The music while fighting Tarantox is the same as while fighting Dino Piranha and Fiery Dino Piranha.
 * Tarantox's name may come from "Tarantula," a large, furry spider, and "Toxic," hazardous to one's health.