comprising more than 95% of all known eurypterid fossils. E. remipes was designated the New York State Fossil by the then Governor Mario Cuomo in 1984. Description The largest arthropods to have ever existed were eurypterids. The largest known species (Jaekelopterus rhenaniae) reached up to in length, about the size of a crocodile. Species of Eurypterus, however, were much smaller. E. remipes are usually between in length. E. lacustris average at larger sizes at in length. However, a single telson (the posteriormost division of the body) of a specimen of this species reaches this length, being long and indicating a specimen of of length, and that is the largest specimen ever described in literature. In the introduction page of E. remipes in website of University of Texas at Austin says that the largest specimen ever found was long, currently on display at the Paleontological Research Institution of New York. However, the text section describes the group eurypterid itself rather than Eurypterus, so it is not possible to determine in context whether the long specimen is actually from E. remipes or another eurypterid. Eurypterus fossils often occur in similar sizes in a given area. This may be a result of the fossils being "sorted" into windrows as they were being deposited in shallow waters by storms and wave action. The Eurypterus body is broadly divided into two parts: the prosoma and the opisthosoma (in turn divided into the mesosoma and the metasoma). The prosoma is the forward part of the body, it is actually composed of six segments fused together to form the head and the thorax. It contains the semicircular to subrectangular platelike carapace. On the dorsal side of the latter are two large crescent-shaped compound eyes. They also possessed two smaller light-sensitive simple eyes (the median ocelli) near the center of the carapace on a small elevation (known as the ocellar mound). Underneath the carapace is the mouth and six appendages, usually referred to in Roman numerals I-VI. Each appendage in turn is composed of nine segments (known as podomeres) labeled in Arabic numerals 1–9. The first segments which connect the appendages to the body are known as the coxa (plural coxae). The first pair (Appendage I) are the chelicerae, small pincer-like arms used for tearing food apart (mastication) during feeding. After the chelicerae are three pairs of short legs (Appendages II, III, and IV). They are spiniferous, with