First Amphibious Centipede Discovered

[Megaloblatta]

A nice article about the 'horrific' giant amphibious centipede I found in Thailand has appeared on the National Geographic Society's Blog (see http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...vered-laos-scolopendra-cataracta-new-species/). Note that German spider expert Peter Jaeger has observed a Scolopendra walking along the bottom of a small stream at night in Laos. He said he hadn't disturbed it and that he thought it was hunting. Quite possibly this was also S. cataracta.

 

[ErinM31]

It strikes me as strange that an entomologist would use such language to describe it -- "horrific-looking" and "a horrible dark, greenish-black color." Maybe that's just the colorful quote that got selected for the article...

Cool finding -- thanks for sharing the link!

 

[Megaloblatta]

Giant centipedes are the only organisms I find highly disturbing, although I know that they are far less dangerous than some other animals! Catching the specimen using only a stick and trying to get it into an empty water bottle was an unnerving experience, but I did it for science!

 

[shining]

It strikes me as strange that an entomologist would use such language to describe it -- "horrific-looking" and "a horrible dark, greenish-black color." Maybe that's just the colorful quote that got selected for the article...

Cool finding -- thanks for sharing the link!

It seemed as the author had a theme, monsters in the night, hunters in the water, no one is safe, I'm afraid of the veil of darkness.

This seemed a little odd, "The expert was skeptical, because Scolopendra are found in dry habitats".
Really, just in dry habitats? Hmmmm...

 

[Galapoheros]

imo, way too much assuming in the article, it was interesting it went in the water and walked around on the bottom though, ‘could’ be a way to only get to the other side or to temp escape predators. He implied it was probable that it hunted under water for food, too assuming there. I’d say that’s unlikely. There are too many unknowns about the species to make guesses like that, or to “kind of” believe something like that. There would have to be a lot more research about it. Seems to me there would be more physical characteristics for an adaptation to semi-regular aquatic life, looks like the typical terrestrial form to me. But of course I’ll be looking for more info and data about it, until then, I’m betting it will briefly enter water and that’s about it, but just that is pretty cool. Thanks for posting, it was interesting. I recently read about the species but never was able to find a pic of it.

 

[Staehilomyces]

Certainly seems more built for an amphibious lifestyle than other scolopendrids. On the other hand, I dislike the continuous emphasis on the centipede being a frightening creature. Just what we need! More media to make everyone hate these creatures!

 

[Galapoheros]

The more I think about the idea of it regularly going under water, the less I believe it does as much as the article implies. It would need a specialized respiratory system, modified, at least a little different than the typical centipede imo, maybe it will be discovered that they do some day. They depend on being on land, but centipedes can't see well enough to know where the bank is to make it back. No, no I'm just not buying this yet, I'm going to have to see and read more data about it. It does have pretty long legs though, maybe used for holding on to rocks in flowing water, or maybe it goes under with more air stored so needs to a good hold to keep from floating(?) But no, I'm not believing that it hunts in water, I'd need to see video of that to believe it.

 

[Staehilomyces]

I think all centipedes are fairly adept swimmers from what I have seen.

 

[Galapoheros]

Most scolopendra anyway but they can't see well enough for direction while swimming to know where the bank is. To me is seem more like, "OK, I'll just start going one direction, maybe hit land sooner or later.." but this seems too dangerous for a practically blind invert like a centipede imo, esp. with the typical respiratory system, which it may not have. No, still not making sense to me but I'm trying to keep an open mind about it. I'd be impressed if somebody finally gets video of this centipede going in water and hunting for prey but I'm not ...holding my breath for it haha, budump--tisshhhhh.

 

[Megaloblatta]

Most scolopendra anyway but they can't see well enough for direction while swimming to know where the bank is. To me is seem more like, "OK, I'll just start going one direction, maybe hit land sooner or later.." but this seems too dangerous for a practically blind invert like a centipede imo, esp. with the typical respiratory system, which it may not have. No, still not making sense to me but I'm trying to keep an open mind about it. I'd be impressed if somebody finally gets video of this centipede going in water and hunting for prey but I'm not ...holding my breath for it haha, budump--tisshhhhh.

The thing is that this centipede did not simply swim across the stream - it went straight under water and hid under a submerged rock. When I tried to catch it it ran under other submerged rocks. Once I had captured it I put it in a large jar of water and rather than simply swimming on the surface and trying to climb out, it immediately swam to the bottom and all around the jar underwater. It was a powerful swimmer. Anyway, hopefully my observations, plus those of Peter Jaeger, will prompt others to study the behaviour of this species. It hardly surprises me that an amphibious centipede exists as many other groups of animals, from mammals to beetles, include amphibious or aquatic species. There are even many species of amphibious cockroaches (Epilamprinae) - which is what I was searching for when I found the centipede. I have found amphibious epilamprines in Ecuador, Madagascar, Malaysia, Thailand and Papua New Guinea, yet very few other people have ever reported them and their amphibious behaviour remains virtually unstudied.

 

[Galapoheros]

Well now that is interesting, that the behavior was consistent, with it diving down. I think many people are going to think it spends most of the time in the water saying it’s aquatic, this is what I’m having doubts about. Oh wait, "amphibious" that's what it says, yes there is a difference I missed. I would be surprised if it has a significant amphibious life, but I would be pleasantly surprised if it did, that would be very interesting. Maybe it’s just upsetting what I’m used to seeing and I can’t adjust to thinking that there’s a centipede that hunts in water very well at the moment. How well the antennae are adapted to sensing prey under water, well I’m just not seeing it, giving me doubts. I look forward to reading whatever you and other researchers there find out about it, that sounds like a lot of fun and I hope you update with what more you find out. I've been looking for a pic of that species for a while.

 

[Megaloblatta]

Interestingly, a chap called Sháún Dávíes posted a comment on the National Geographic article which reads "This Story doesn't surprise me. I've been observing centipedes in the rainforest of Sabah, Borneo & have found that many streams contain large centipedes which are amphibious. Usually yellow/orange with blue legs and around 7 inches long usually spotted at night."

 

[Galapoheros]

I just have to wait for more info about this, it's mainly the "hunting things in water" issue that has me wondering and doubting. I have regularly put centipedes in water to "knock them out" so I can sex them, they show signs of O2 deprivation within a few minutes though they can still show movement/twitching +- 30 minutes or so. But controlled movement is compromised pretty fast with species I've had experience with when put in water. So I think this species must have a modified respiratory system, otherwise it seems it would be too dangerous to go in water without provocation. I've considered that since they depend on moisture and many of the larger scolopendra are found in riparian areas, they likely evolved to survive flooding and so can remain under water for a long time and still survive however their body shuts down to minimize use of O2 in their system, apparently shut down a lot faster than this species. Maybe this species can close the spiracles(?), maybe larger tracheal tube volume(?) ..who knows yet, and it does has me questioning things. I'd love to see video of this species, in the water, doing it's thing in water unprovoked, yeah that would be awesome to see. If they do hunt in water, I wonder what the typical prey would be, maybe larvae attached to rocks, like dragonfly larvae? But yes, I'll be looking for more research to see what's going on here.

 

[Staehilomyces]

I'm certainly looking forward to more info on these discoveries.

 

[dragonfire1577]

It's probably similar to the semi aquatic behavior of H. gigas or one of the amphibious roach species like Epilampra maya

 

[Megaloblatta]

It's probably similar to the semi aquatic behavior of H. gigas or one of the amphibious roach species like Epilampra maya

Amazing - I didn't realise that Hysterocrates gigas was amphibious: see

Many cockroaches in the subfamily Epilamprinae are amphibious - I have found amphibious species all over the tropics, including Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Madagascar and Ecuador. In fact, it was whilst looking for amphibious cockroaches in Thailand that I found S. cataracta.

 

[Megaloblatta]

Since the article about S. cataracta went viral, I have been receiving reports about amphibious Scolopendra from all over the world. The most plausible are from Japan, where Yutaka Nakano and Tomoki Iwasaki (both on Facebook) have independently told me that they have seen and collected amphibious Scolopendra. Tomoki Iwasaki has seen them on Okinawa island and Ishigaki island and he took the photos below. Yutaka Nakano has one in captivity and put it in some water and filmed it. He says it dives down to a depth of 10cm and that one has been seen eating a freshwater crab:

 

[Galapoheros]

The vid of the tarantula was very interesting. Familiar with centipedes swimming, did that guy say he's seen them catch crabs under water, or anything else? That would kind of blow my mind if he did. Well, now I can picture a centipede staying close to the bank hunting in shallow water, in and out, where it can safely exit but having a harder time imagining one hunting under water several inches or more. Hunting and going in and out of shallow water, well it would be a good way to come across larvae and molting larvae like dragonfly and Dobson fly, or briefly poking it's head under a rock in shallow water to find something. The challenge is for somebody to get something like that on video!

 

[Stugy]

Amazing - I didn't realise that Hysterocrates gigas was amphibious: see

Many cockroaches in the subfamily Epilamprinae are amphibious - I have found amphibious species all over the tropics, including Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Madagascar and Ecuador. In fact, it was whilst looking for amphibious cockroaches in Thailand that I found S. cataracta.

You know what? I used to live in Okinawa and I actually saw one of those centipedes swimmin' around a the Okinawa Zoo lake (it's huge). Back then I wasn't really interested in centipedes but I definitely noticed it swimming under the water. If only I knew more about centipedes I probably would've tried to get it. Oh yeah! It was swimming in the area of water that was probably 3ft deep but it was heading towards the shallower area of the lake. From memory it may have been around 4-6 inches in length but I'm not too sure as I was like 11 or 12 years old back then.

 

[Megaloblatta]

Here's a video showing the amphibious centipede from Japan's Ryukyu Islands swimming and diving:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=651388628346962

It is quite probably Scolopendra cataracta.