Epiperipatus barbadensis is a species of velvet worm, an ancient lineage of invertebrates around 500 million years old, found in Barbados. They are worm-like animals with short, stocky legs and a dry velvet-like skin. They hunt by shooting a sticky slime from two openings on their head. This slime, while liquid in the animal’s body, quickly hardens like glue to immobilise their prey on contact.

Recently, the slime of Barbados’ velvet worm was the focus of research. Velvet worm slime can be dissolved and re-extracted from water, a unique property that can aid in the development of sustainable methods of recycling plastic and glue. To learn more, watch the video below.