''Peripatopsis balfouri'' is a species of
velvet worm
Onychophora (from , , "claws"; and , , "to carry"), commonly known as velvet worms (for their velvety texture and somewhat wormlike appearance) or more ambiguously as peripatus (after the first described genus, '' Peripatus''), is a phylum of e ...
in the
Peripatopsidae
Peripatopsidae or the Southern Velvet Worms are one of two extant families of velvet worm. This family includes more than 140 described species distributed among 41 genera, but some authorities deem only 131 of these species to be valid. The Fre ...
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
.
This species has 18 pairs of clawed legs (with the last pair more reduced in the male than in the female).
Also known as the blue velvet worm, this species ranges from 9 mm to 22 mm in length.
The type locality is in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.
References
Further reading
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Endemic fauna of South Africa
Onychophorans of temperate Africa
Onychophoran species
Animals described in 1885
{{Onychophora-stub