Yanskacs were creatures used by the Yuuzhan Vong. Members of the Warrior caste often used them as weapons. The eight-centimeter-long spines ran along the dorsal ridge of the creatures, along with a tail barb that contained a painful, but not necessarily lethal, neuropoison. They also had chelipeds.
Yanskacs were also a favored source of food among both the Warriors and the Workers. To eat it, one would lower one's hand into the yanskac tank, grabbing under the tail which would avoid the barbs and chelipeds but allow it to thrust its spines into the diner. It would then be carved alive and thrown into a brazier while still in its scales to cook.