Remipedes: Remipedia

Remipedes are found in underwater sea caves along the shores of the Bahamas, Canary Islands, Cuba, eastern Mexico, northwestern Australia, and the Indian Ocean.

Remipedes live only in completely submerged sea caves near the shores of islands and some continents. They live with other cave-dwelling, or troglodytic (TRAH-gloh-DIH-tik), crustaceans and fish.

They are predators and eat troglodytic shrimp and fish. Remipedes are closely associated with the sand or mud at the bottom of caves. In captivity they gather these materials into a small ball, hold it over their mouth, then eat it. Some scientists think that they are using bacteria in the sediment as either a food source or for some physiological purpose.

No remipedes are considered endangered or threatened. However, one species, Speleonectes lucayensis, is protected by Lucayan National Park on Grand Bahama Island. The cave habitats of all remipedes are threatened by logging, development, pesticides, and sewage disposal.