Scolopendra cataracta
{{Short description|Species of centipede}}
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| image=Scolopendra cataracta from Zookeys.jpg
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| taxon=Scolopendra cataracta
| authority=Siriwut, Edgecombe & Panha, 2016
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Scolopendra cataracta is a species of centipede in the family Scolopendridae.{{cite web |author=Bonato L. |display-authors=etal |url=https://chilobase.biologia.unipd.it/searches/result_species/4445 |title=Scolopendra cataracta Siriwut, Edgecombe, Panha, 2016 |work=ChiloBase 2.0 – A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda) |year=2016 | access-date=27 November 2020}}{{cite web|title='Horrific' First Amphibious Centipede Discovered|last=Bates|first=M.|date=26 June 2016|access-date=1 July 2016|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/amphibious-centipede-discovered-laos-scolopendra-cataracta-new-species/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160626122234/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/amphibious-centipede-discovered-laos-scolopendra-cataracta-new-species/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 26, 2016|publisher=National Geographic}} It is the first known amphibious centipede and grows to up to {{convert|20|cm}} in length.{{cite news|title=Giant swimming, venomous centipede discovered by accident in world-first|last=Holmes|first=O.|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/01/giant-swimming-venomous-centipede-found-south-east-asia|date=1 July 2016|access-date=1 July 2016|newspaper=The Guardian}}
Description
Scolopendra cataracta is a giant centipede, growing to around {{convert|200|mm|abbr=on}} in length; it has long legs and a greenish-black colour. When exposed, it escapes into water. It both runs along stream beds and swims with eel-like horizontal undulations of its body. Out of water, water rolls off the centipede's body leaving it dry as the surface is hydrophobic. The species was discovered, and the first specimen collected, in 2000 near Thailand's Khao Sok National Park.{{cite web |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/departments-and-staff/staff-directory/george-beccaloni.html|title=Dr George Beccaloni – Curator, Orthopteroidea and Wallace Collection|access-date=1 July 2016|publisher=Natural History Museum, London}}{{cite news |last=Nijhuis |first=Michelle |author-link=Michelle Nijhuis |title=It's always a joy to discover a new species. But there is a downside... |newspaper=The Guardian |date=3 July 2016 |access-date=3 July 2016 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/02/giant-centipede-peacock-spiders-new-species-environment }} Two more specimens were collected near waterfalls in Laos. DNA analysis confirmed they belonged to S. cataracta; the new species was named for the Latin for waterfall. A further specimen was found in the Natural History Museum's collection, in the shape of a misidentified 1928 centipede from Vietnam. The ecological niche is conjectured to be based on going "into the water at night to hunt aquatic or amphibious invertebrates." The species description was published in ZooKeys in 2016.{{cite journal |title=A taxonomic review of the centipede genus Scolopendra Linnaeus, 1758 (Scolopendromorpha, Scolopendridae) in mainland Southeast Asia, with description of a new species from Laos |first1=W. |last1=Siriwut |first2=G. D. |last2=Edgecombe|first3=C. |last3=Sutcharit |first4=P. |last4=Tongkerd |first5=S. |last5=Panha |journal=ZooKeys |issue=590 |pages=1–124 |year=2016 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.590.7950 |pmc=4926625 |pmid=27408540 |doi-access=free }}
The species is apparently endemic to Southeast Asia, with specimens from Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Phylogeny and Classification
The Mainland Asian Scolopendra species are classified into three different main groups. These groups are the pinguis–calcarata group, the subspinipes group, and the morsitans group. The Scolopendra cataracta is classified into the subspinipes group.
References
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Category:Centipedes of Thailand