Strigamia maritima

Strigamia maritima is a centipede belonging to the family Linotaeniidae in the order Geophilomorpha. It is the most common of the four fully coastal geophilomorph species known in the British Isles. In general, Strigamia maritima is the only member of its genus known to occur on the sea shore. The other species of the genus are woodland species. The species are probably concentrated in areas of the shingle bank which are climatically favorable and have a good food supply. They are found only at the top of the shore, around the High-Water Spring drift line on the seaward side of the shingle bank, but this may well be due to the unstable nature of this part of the beach, and the fact that the fauna is usually sparse. The animal is found far lower down on the landward side where it feeds on Sphaeroma and is liable to spasmodic immersion at high spring tides and during bad weather. Immersed animals migrate up the beach suggesting that even the adults are not well adapted to resist fully marine conditions for long.