Alien bio-acid, does it have any plausibility?

[GTOM]

In Aliens movies, the xenomorphs blood is such a strong acid, that if they are shot, they damage the surroundings.
Does it have any plausibility, that an organic biological lifeform could create such a strong acid, have claws that could cut through metal?

 

[ignacio_cabero]

If the Xhenomorphs claw could be naturally coated in a special chemical, said chemical could create a chemical reaction to "rip" the metal in half. The possibilities are very slim though.

 

[DHF]

There are very strong acids that do not react to substances like certain plastics but will however happily dissolve metal,wood ect...
Perhaps the Xenomorphs have some sort of organic polymer coating all of their organs.

 

[vemvare]

Each mole of acid would react with a finite amount of metal, so the behavior of in-universe metals/alloys when they come in contact with the blood make little sense.

 

[B-McKinley]

The Anchorpoint Essays speculates that the acid blood is either hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid, or enzymatic in nature (i.e. it's not actually acid.

The Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual has a section (in-universe) where scientists speculate on the "blood". The first thing pointed out is there is no proof the acid substance is used as blood. It could be a purely defensive feature. It also goes with the hydrofluoric theory or a hydrofluoric/hydrochloric combination. It goes on for quite a while. I just flipped through it. It also speculate on the hydrocarbon structure needed by the alien to support that. I'd be happy to report on that in more detail

The aliens in at least the first three movies can't cut through metal because barricades and doors are used for protection. The first time the the alien "tears" through metal is the fourth movie and they did that by sacrificing one of their own.

The first two alien designs don't have claws, they have sort of fused fingers and two opposable thumbs on each hand.