Tasmanophilus spenceri

This species can reach 23 mm in length, and both males and females have 39 pairs of legs.^[7][4] The middle part of the labrum features several distinct teeth, and the side pieces of the labrum are fringed. The first maxillae feature distinct lappets projecting from the lateral margins, and the second maxillae each feature a long curved claw. The claws on the forcipule are curved, stout, and long enough to reach the front of the head. These claws are each armed with a blunt tubercle. Pores appear in transverse bands in the posterior portion of each sternite but become progressively smaller and sparser after the 29th segment. The basal element of each of the ultimate legs features evenly spaced pores, 12 to 14 large pores on the lower surface and four on the upper surface. The ultimate legs in the male are very broad and thick, with a small claw, a few long hairs above, and a dense covering of fine hairs below. The male also features many fine hairs on the last sternite.^[4][9]

The species T. spenceri shares several features with T. opinatus, the only other species in the genus Tasmanophilus. For example, the anterior sternites in both species feature an unusual medial depression.^[5] These pits appear in the first 15 sternites in T. spenceri and in the first 25 sternites in T. opinatus.^[4][6] The species T. opinatus, however, features 69 pairs of legs, many more than T. spenceri has. Furthermore, T. spenceri has distinctly larger pores and wider sternites.^[6]

This centipede is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. This species has been recorded only at the type locality, The Bluff, near Invercargill in the Southland Region.^[4]