Class SYMPHYLA
Blind myriapods resembling small pale centipedes, up to 8mm long, with a trunk of 14 segments and 12 pairs of legs of which the first are usually (but not always) reduced. The antennae are long and distinct with up to 60 segments. About 200 species have been described in total; 4 (?5) apparently halophilic (although not necessarily exclusively so) species are reported from Europe and California.
The total number of littoral species in the world must be much greater but impossible to estimate (? 30+); these are widespread and often common animals of soil, moss, bark, leaf litter, etc. but are delicate and difficult to study and not often identified to species level. Possibly are some as yet undescribed littoral species in collections.
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