Anannya Roy, Amity University Kolkata
A new species of centipede belonging to the genus Scolopendra has been discovered by a team of researchers from Japan. They were found living in the forests of Ryukyu Archipelago and Taiwan.
The Genus Scolopendra comes under the family Scolopenridae and consists of a large number of tropical centipedes. The species are distributed throughout the world, mainly in tropical and subtropical region like Southeast Asia, North Africa, the Mediterranean and North and Central America. All of the members under this genus are active predators and primarily feed upon insects and other vertebrates. These organisms are poisonous and their venom causes intense pain and oedema to all higher vertebrates including humans.
The 5 species currently known now in Japan and Taiwan were Scolopendra morsitans, Scolopendra subpinipes, Scolopendra mutilans, Scolopendra japonica and Scolopendra multidens. Recently the species that has been discovered is named Scolopendra Alcyone. Interestingly, this is the first time in 143 years that a new centipede species has been identified in the country.
This discovery demonstrates how such a large organism; an invertebrate could go undiscovered for a long time. How so often things are right in front of our eyes and yet we can’t see them. Nature never fails to fascinate us.
This species measures 20cm in length, and 2cm in width, has a beautiful Jade coloured shell and is said to be the largest centipede species of Japan and Taiwan. Habitatspreferred includes a streamside environment. Because of its amphibious behaviour, it comes under one-third of all the amphibious Scolopendra species in the world.
According to researchers, this species is endangered and inhabits those streams which are not visited by people. We all can collectively agree that a species getting extinct even before it is discovered is a researcher’s worst nightmare.
Also read: Role of RING 1 Protein in Plant Immunity and Gene Expression
References https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4952.3.3/0
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