New blind centipede found over half a mile underground
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Scientists discovered a new species of blind centipede, Geophilus hadesi, living in caves on Mount Velebit in central Croatia.
Pavel Stoev from Pensoft Publishers and the National Museum of Natural History Bulgaria led a team that described the centipede based on specimens collected from cave systems. They identified the species from a female measuring 28 millimeters long with 33 pairs of legs, collected by hand in Gua Munižaba in February 2011.
Researchers also observed another individual of what appeared to be the same species at a depth of 1,100 meters within the Lukina jama-Trojama cave system. This depth represents the deepest any centipede has ever been recorded living. The caves’ dark, cold environment with limited food sources have shaped the centipede’s unique adaptations, like elongated antennae and claws. These cave-dwelling creatures, called troglobites, are invertebrates that spend their entire lives underground. The scientists published their findings in the journal ZooKeys.
