Centipedes in this family feature a short head and mandibles with a single row of short teeth. The number of leg-bearing segments in this family varies within as well as among species and ranges from 57 to 191.[3] These centipedes are very elongated with a high mean number of trunk segments (often greater than 100) and great variability in this number within species.[4] The minimum number of legs recorded in this family (57 pairs) appears in the species Himantosoma porosum.[5][6] This family includes the species Gonibregmatus plurimipes, which can have as many as 191 leg pairs, the maximum number recorded in the class Chilopoda.[7]
Distribution
Centipedes in this family are found in Madagascar, India, southeast Asia, and Australasia, and on islands in the Pacific Ocean. Species from the families Neogeophilidae and Eriphantidae are found in Central America and Mexico.[3]