In Greek mythology Hades is god of the dead and king of the underworld. Now, Hades is the deepest cave-dwelling centipede known to man.

Geophilus hadesi, better known as the Hades centipede, lives in three caves in Croatia’s Velebit mountains. Scientists collected three specimens of the Hades centipede at different depths in the caves and spotted one at a shocking 3,600 feet below the surface.

Members of the Croatian Biospeleological Society discovered the centipede and published their findings in the journal ZooKeys.

Unlike most species of centipede, which occasionally take shelter in caves, Hades spends all of its life underground and has learned to adapt. The centipede has “exceptionally elongated antennae, trunk segments and leg claws.” This makes Hades one of the cave’s top predators 🐛

“When I first saw the animal and its striking appearance, I immediately realized that this is a new, hitherto unnamed and highly adapted to cave environment species,” said Pavel Stoev, the study’s lead author, in a statement. “This finding comes to prove once again how little we know about the life in caves, where even in the best prospected areas, one can still find incredible animals.”

But, Hades isn’t alone! According to mythology, Hades is not only ruler of the underworld, he is also husband to Persephone. Geophilus persephones (named after Persephone, queen of the underworld) is the only other known cave-dwelling centipede. A match made in hell ❤️