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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Myriapods (Myriapoda) » Millipedes (Diplopoda) » Flat-backed Millipedes (Polydesmida) » Paradoxosomatidae » Oxidus » Greenhouse Millipede (Oxidus gracilis)
Photo#1396825
Milipede? In freshwater fishtank - Oxidus gracilis
Copyright © 2017 Talexander

Milipede? In freshwater fishtank - Oxidus gracilis
Arkansas, USA
July 3, 2017
I'm assuming this is a milipede. I noticed it in my fish tank on June 19th, 2017. Today is July 3rd 2017 & it is still alive. I'm mostly wondering if it is in fact a greenhouse milipede & if a milipede surviving completely immersed underwater for 2 weeks or longer has ever been documented. Thanks!!

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Milipede? In freshwater fishtank - Oxidus gracilis Milipede? In freshwater fishtank - Oxidus gracilis
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Contributed by Talexander on 3 July, 2017 - 11:28pm
Last updated 29 February, 2020 - 1:42pm

Moved
Moved from Millipedes.
… Sam McNally, 29 February, 2020 - 1:42pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Curt Harden, 10 August, 2017 - 4:24pm login or register to post comments

Underwater millipedes
I observed dozens of greenhouse millipedes covering underwater rocks in a stream in Newton County, Arkansas this May. When removed, they crawled around on my hand fine, and when returned to the water they "swam" down to rock and reattached themselves, so they apparently wanted to be there.

According to Jackson Means, a millipede student at Virginia Tech, "they can live underwater for a time using air bubbles trapped under their sterna (or so I have heard)."

This is interesting enough that I'll move it to the millipede page for now, but another editor may decide to "frass" these images..
… Curt Harden, 10 August, 2017 - 4:24pm login or register to post comments

 
It is still alive!
It is still alive!
… Talexander, 10 August, 2017 - 4:34pm login or register to post comments

Looked up
underwater millipedes on wikipedia and they said "Some species can survive freshwater floods and live submerged underwater for up to 11 months." Google came up with other examples.
… Thomas Dawson Twining, 4 July, 2017 - 4:03pm login or register to post comments

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