Nightwatcher worm

"That's a nightwatcher worm. It feeds on junk."

- Rey to BB-8

Nightwatcher worms, also known as Arconan night terrors and sandborers, were a little-documented species of nocturnal sand-boring worms native to the planet Jakku. Mature specimens topped 20 meters in length, although some were reputed to be much larger. According to the scavengers of Jakku, nightwatchers remained under the sands motionless, but at the slightest vibration from something moving on the surface, they sprung up out of the sand and snapped onto their preys. With their triangular heads featuring large red eyes, nightwatchers bore a passing resemblance to the Arcona, a sentient species with a humanoid body. They could eat anything, since their mouthparts could grind metal into scrap, and their stomachs generated acid to melt down anything they could not digest.

Following the Attack on Tuanul, the astromech droid BB-8 was spied upon by one such worm. The nightwatcher rose from its burrow and squinted its red eyes, making a curious sound as the BB unit rolled by.

Behind the scenes
Although the curious sound it made wasn't made out in the film, a transcript of various sound audio from the film revealed that its sound was "Kojima." This was a reference to the Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima, who is a real life friend of the film's director and executive producer, J.J. Abrams. Another reference to Kojima in the film, in particular his game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and the main character, Venom Snake, was with C-3PO, who sported a red right arm similar to that of Venom Snake's bionic arm, with the comic explaining C-3PO's arm's origins, Star Wars Special: C-3PO 1: The Phantom Limb, being a reference to the game.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: Puzzle Droids