--- description: When George Beccaloni was on his honeymoon, he did more than relax on the beach: he discovered the world's first amphibious centipede. title: The Scariest Thing About This Monstrous Centipede? It Can Swim image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2262e4bc95f14a1/69889a4e8e0601bfa946686a/scolopendra-cataracta-new-centipede-swimming.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Scariest Thing About This Monstrous Centipede? It Can Swim  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2016 12:38 PM CUT  Warut Siriwut—ZooKeys  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2016 12:38 PM CUT When George Beccaloni was on his honeymoon in Thailand in 2001, he did more than relax on the beach: he discovered the world’s first amphibious centipede. “Wherever I go in the world, I always turn over rocks beside streams, and that’s where I found this centipede, which was quite a surprise,” Beccaloni, an entomologist, [told National Geographic](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/amphibious-centipede-discovered-laos-scolopendra-cataracta-new-species/ "undefined") of his discovery. “It was pretty horrific-looking: very big with long legs and a horrible dark, greenish-black color.” The centipede’s description was [first published in ZooKeys](http://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=7950 "undefined") in May. It appears to be the first known amphibious centipede. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4390993/centipede-discovered-swimming-thailand/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4390993/centipede-discovered-swimming-thailand/"},"headline":"The Scariest Thing About This Monstrous Centipede? It Can Swim","datePublished":"2016-07-01T12:38:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:33:59.071Z","description":"It appears to be the first known amphibious centipede. Stay out of the water","url":"https://time.com/4390993/centipede-discovered-swimming-thailand/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Thailand","Species"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2262e4bc95f14a1/69889a4e8e0601bfa946686a/scolopendra-cataracta-new-centipede-swimming.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2262e4bc95f14a1/69889a4e8e0601bfa946686a/scolopendra-cataracta-new-centipede-swimming.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Scolopendra-cataracta-new-centipede-swimming","caption":"Scolopendra cataracta centipede","creditText":"Warut Siriwut—ZooKeys","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4390993/centipede-discovered-swimming-thailand/","name":"The Scariest Thing About This Monstrous Centipede? It Can Swim"}}]}] ```