''Geophilus nicolanus'' is a species of

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

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 on

San Nicholas Island San Nicolas Island (Spanish: ''Isla de San Nicolás''; Tongva: ''Haraasnga'') is the most remote of the Channel Islands, off of Southern California, 61 miles (98 km) from the nearest point on the mainland coast. It is part of Ventura Coun ...

, California. It's dark brown in color and grows up to 62 millimeters long, with 63 leg pairs, a concealed prebasal plate, numerous

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, and a very wide final ventral plate with convex sides.

Related Species

''G. nicolanus'' closely resembles '' G. becki'', but differs by its color, lack of anal pores, by having the last tergite strongly convex instead of posteriorly truncate, and by having the prehensorial claws unarmed at the base.

References

nicolanus Arthropods of the United States Endemic fauna of California Animals described in 1940 Taxa named by Ralph Vary Chamberlin {{Myriapoda-stub