Kingdom Animalia Class Udeonychophora Family Peripatidae Scientific name Speleoperipatus | Phylum Onychophora Order Euonychophora Species S. spelaeus Rank Genus | |
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Speleoperipatus is a monospecific genus of velvet worm in the Peripatidae family, containing the single species Speleoperipatus spelaeus.
It is endemic to Jamaica, troglobitic, and currently known from only two sites, both in northern St. Catherine. Only five individuals have been found as of 2013; four specimens collected by Dr S. Peck in 1975 at Pedro Cave, and one individual found (not collected, but confirmed photographically by Peck) at Swansea Cave by members of the Jamaican Cave Organisation in 2010. The species is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
References
Speleoperipatus Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA