Vilix'pran is a Starfleet junior officer serving on Deep Space 9, never seen on screen, whose species reproduces by budding and whose periodic broods are a recurring topic among the crew.
Vilix'pran is first mentioned in the third-season episode Heart of Stone, when Chief O'Brien tells Commander Sisko that the ensign is budding again and will need leave. O'Brien has arranged for a small hatchling pond to be built in his quarters, a detail Sisko takes in his stride.
He is referred to again in later seasons. In Apocalypse Rising Jake and Nog are said to be looking after his hatchlings, and in Business as Usual, by which time he has been promoted, his latest offspring are mentioned once more.
Neither Vilix'pran nor his species is ever shown or named, which has made him one of the station's best-known unseen residents.