Meet The Hades Centipede, A Creepy Crawler Found In The Deepest, Darkest Depths Of Croatia

If centipedes aren’t your thing, stay out of the caves of Croatia. Scientists have discovered a new species of centipede in three Croatian caves. They quite appropriately named it Geophilus hadesi, after Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. The research was published in the journal ZooKeys.

Centipedes are carnivores that feed on other invertebrate animals. Some types of centipedes have been known to take shelter in caves, but this living exclusively in caves is rare within this order. Another of this type, Geophilus persephones, was found in the Pierre-Saint Martin cave in southern France. That's right, there are two centipedes -- Hades and Persephone -- that are king and queen of the underworld.

"When I first saw the animal and its striking appearance, I immediately realized that this is a new, hitherto unnamed and highly adapted to cave environment species," lead author Pavel Stoev, from Bulgaria's National Museum of Natural History, said in a statement.

The Hades centipede belongs to the Geophilomorpha order, which contains between 1,000 and 1,250 species of centipedes. They can be found on all continents except Antarctica. They centipedes lack sight and have adapted to living underground. Some have been highly adaptable and managed to live in the Amazon and in deserts.

The Hades centipedes were found to have elongated antennae, trunk segments and leg claws, as well as powerful jaws with poisonous glands.

The centipedes were found in the Munižaba, Muda labudova and Lukina jama-Trojama caves in the Velebit mountains. The Lukina jama-Trojama cave system is the 15^th deepest in the world. The area is known for is subterranean biodiversity; 54 species have been located in the cave system.

No word if the new species will inspire a fourth "Human Centipede" flick.