Orphnaeus brevilabiatus is a species of centipedes in the family Oryidae.[1][2]
Adult specimens are typically 60-65 mm long, yellowish-orange in colour and ca. 1 mm wide at the head.[3] Males of this species can have as few as 67 pairs of legs, whereas females can have as many as 81 leg pairs.[4]
It is a littoral myriapod that can be found throughout sublittoral zones of Indian and East Pacific countries,[5] including Taiwan and Japan, in particular the Okinawan, Yaeyama and Miyama islands, where it is listed as a threatened local population.[3] It has been introduced to south-west Western Australia.[6]
The species is one of several bioluminescent centipede genera currently known.[3] Upon direct chemical, thermal and physical stimulation, the centipede secretes a clear, but bioluminescent slime from pores in its sternal defense glands, supposedly a form of aposematism.[7] While several genera display this form of bioluminescence, utilising the typical oxygen-dependent luciferin-luciferase reaction, this example is noteworthy due to the low, narrow pH range of the reaction, and the relatively long period of emission.[8]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) Orphnaeus brevilabiatus is a species of centipedes in the family Oryidae.
