第 1290 號，共 1 402 號

Venomous remipede

Xibalbanus tulumensis

名字的由來： Speleonectes means 'cave swimmer', tulumensis means 'occurring at Tulum', and Xibalbanus means 'from Xibalba'.1

無害對人無害。不用擔心。

海膽、海星和蟲

咬吃：肉

對人的危險: 輕微跟蜜蜂螫差不多或更輕微。對人基本上無害。

The venomous remipede is a small, blind crustacean that swims through underground water. It lives in flooded caves and cenotes on the Yucatán Peninsula, near the Caribbean Sea. It is special because it is one of the very few crustaceans known to use venom to catch its food.1

分布在

Yucatán Peninsula and the Caribbean Sea, Mexico1

大西洋, 加勒比海, 墨西哥灣

首頁

It lives in anchialine caves and cenotes close to the sea, where salty seawater lies beneath fresh water. The water grades smoothly from fresh to salt, a zone called a halocline.1

長度

2,5 cm 到 3 cm (1 in 到 1,2 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,02 km/h（0,01 mph）

游泳, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It feeds on other crustaceans. It injects venom with its front claws, which liquefies the body contents of its prey.1

Venomous remipede 的照片 — Venomous remipede。照片：Christine Loew。 CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

It is blind and has no eyes or pigment, so it is pale.1
It has a long, slender, segmented body about 2.5 to 3 cm long.1
It has many legs, which it uses as oars to swim.1
Its front claws look like hypodermic needles.1
The number of body segments increases as it gets older. The highest number recorded was 36.1

毒液力量

咬

咬的時候，毒液會從毒牙或牙齒出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Its venom is similar to that of rattlesnakes and contains digestive enzymes and a paralysing toxin. The enzymes break down the body of its prey, and the toxin paralyses the prey. The venom is made in glands in the centre of the body and stored in reservoirs attached to the claws.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 輕微跟蜜蜂螫差不多或更輕微。對人基本上無害。

如果牠咬人

把傷口泡在熱水裡，水溫要在傷者能忍受、又不會燙傷的範圍內，並就醫請醫生取出棘刺。不要自己挖出來。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠咬了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲大西洋加勒比海墨西哥灣

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

大約跟一根迴紋針一樣長比花園蝸牛還慢

Venomous remipede 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻海馬 大約 0,0015 km/h (0 mph)

Venomous remipede 大約 0,02 km/h (0,01 mph)

一隻花園蝸牛 大約 0,05 km/h (0,03 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Venom was believed to be completely absent from the roughly 70,000 known crustacean species until this animal was discovered.1

In 2007, researchers noticed its front claws looked like hypodermic needles. Venom reservoirs were later found attached to them.1

Its feeding technique is unique among crustaceans.1

It is hermaphroditic, meaning each individual has both male and female reproductive organs.1

It is one of 24 species in the class Remipedia. All of them live in caves, and they are found in the Caribbean, the Canary Islands and Western Australia.1

Remipede distribution is linked to the ancient Tethys Sea.1