Giant Amphibious Centipede Discovered Attacking Prawns in Japan

Creepy , crawly , newly discovered . The latest critter to emerge from the Japanese archipelago is an 8 - inch - long , 1 - inch - wide centipede , the first to be describe in Japan in nearly 150 years .

A paper about the animal waspublishedthis month in the journal Zootaxa . It lives in the Ryukyu island chain of mountains , which stretch from southwestern Japan to Taiwan . A team of Japanese biologists give-up the ghost to take it after pick up theme of an obscure centipede species attacking elephantine fresh water prawns , rat - sized half-pint that dwell in the stream and river of southeast Asia . Because of course of study .

The many - legged arthropod is only the third amphibian centipede from the mathematical group Scolopendra , a genus of about 100 live metal money , to be classified . The team distinguished this animal from other members of the genus in the country through a genetic depth psychology .

There are cuddlier creatures out there.

There are cuddlier creatures out there.Image: Tokyo Metropolitan University

It ’s not the largest of Scolopendra — that laurels go to the ably make Scolopendra gigantea , a South American centipede that can grow to closely a foot long . Though , when dealing with such creatures , perhaps a few inches does n’t really change how you feel about the thing . Others of the genus are known to be venomous , with fang that save a unspeakable bite . But study authors have n’t had a chance to picture out whether this raw species is venomous just yet .

Centipedes , with their home plate - like exoskeleton , do n’t particularly resemble other amphibians like frogs and salamanders . But swim is a utilitarian adaptation to these hungry , hungry centipede , which writhe through the water system like Bionicle ocean Snake River . Previousresearchhas look into how the animals send different message through their organic structure to command their many legs to engage in walk or swimming mechanics , suggesting that the different body segments recognize and deal aquatic and tellurian environments with ease .

The animal was found both on Okinawa , the Japanese island , and Taiwan itself . The research worker believe the centipede is expose , which , in conjunction with its outback habitat , may excuse how it duck human detection for so long . candidly , that ’s not a bad thing . I do n’t want this centipede anywhere near me .

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