''Geophilus anonyx'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

soil centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an a ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Geophilidae The Geophilidae are a polyphyletic, cosmopolitan family of soil centipedes in the superfamily Geophiloidea containing the mostly defunct clades Aphilodontidae, Dignathodontidae, Linotaeniidae, Chilenophilinae, and Macronicophilidae. Species in ...

found in Oregon. It was originally placed in the genus Brachygeophilus based on the lack of sternal pores, a character shared with the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

''B. truncorum'' (now '' Geophilus truncorum''), however it was later moved to

Geophilus ''Geophilus '' is a large, heterogeneous genus of soil centipedes in the family Geophilidae largely considered to be synonymous with '' Brachygeophilus''. It is a mostly holarctic genus characterized by a claw-shaped ultimate pretarsus, anteri ...

Description

''G. anonyx'' has 57 leg pairs and grows to a length of 24 millimeters. It's characterized by a

prosternum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

lacking chitinous lines; dorsal plates distinctly bisulcate (cloven); spiracles all circular, last ventral plate narrow;

coxal In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region is ...

pores small, about a dozen on each side; anal pores present, distinct; and anal legs with tarsus biarticulate, without terminal claw. Like '' G. tampophor'', it differs from other western American geophilids by having prehensorial claws armed at the base, however unlike ''G. tampophor'' it possesses unarmed anal claws and a greater number of legs.

References

anonyx Arthropods of North America Animals described in 1909 Taxa named by Henry Wilfred Brolemann {{Myriapoda-stub