''Speleoperipatus'' is a monospecific genus of velvet worm in the

Peripatidae Peripatidae is a family of velvet worms. This family includes more than 90 described species distributed among 13 genera, but some authorities deem only 80 of these species to be valid. The oldest putative representatives of the family herald fr ...

family, containing the single species ''Speleoperipatus spelaeus''. This species is a pale greenish yellow, almost white, with 22 or 23 pairs of legs and no eyes. Specimens range from 27 mm to 34 mm in length. The minimum number of leg pairs found in this species (22) is also the minimum number found in the

neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

Peripatidae. This velvet worm is

viviparous In animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the mother, with the maternal circulation providing for the metabolic needs of the embryo's development, until the mother gives birth to a fully or partially developed juve ...

, with mothers supplying nourishment to their embryos through a placenta.

Distribution and habitat

''Speleoperipatus spelaeus'' is a troglobiont known only from two cave systems in northern St. Catherine,

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

; Pedro Great Cave and Swansea Cave. One other troglobitic velvet worm species is known; ''

Peripatopsis alba ''Peripatopsis alba'', the white cave velvet worm, is a species of Onychophora, velvet worm in the family (biology), family Peripatopsidae. This species is notable as one of only two species of velvet worm known to be List of troglobites, troglob ...

'', from Wynberg Cave and Bats' Cave, on

Table Mountain Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...

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 ...

Conservation

Only seven individuals have been found as of 2021; four specimens collected by Dr. Stewart Peck in 1975 at Pedro Great Cave, one individual found (not collected, but confirmed photographically by Peck) at Swansea Cave by members of the Jamaican Cave Organisation (JCO) in 2010, and two more found again at Swansea Cave by the JCO in November, 2021. The species is listed as

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

References

Blind onychophorans Critically endangered fauna of North America Endemic fauna of Jamaica IUCN-assessed onychophorans Onychophorans of tropical America Monotypic onychophoran genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Troglobitic onychophorans {{Onychophora-stub