The sea-centipede (scolopendre) is found in some medieval encyclopedias. Its physical appearance is not described other that it is like a land centipede. When it has swallowed a hook, it vomits up everything inside it, and once it is free of the hook it swallows what it had vomited.

In modern taxonomy, Scolopendra is a genus of land centipedes in the Scolopendridae family. There are at least three centipede species that are amphibious, though not in Eurpean waters. The scolopendra is also sometimes identified as a multi-finned sea serpent or fish, or a cetacean, or a a crustacean.