Final answer:
The white, soft-bodied myriapod with long antennae but lacking eyes and fang-like claws is a symphylan. These are small, vegetarian arthropods without the poison claws found in centipedes, and they typically have twelve pairs of legs.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you find a white, soft-bodied myriapod in the soil of a flower pot with long antennae, but it lacks eyes and fang-like claws, the creature most likely is a symphylan. Symphylans resemble centipedes in their general body shape but are smaller and translucent, and crucially, they lack the forcipules (poison claws) that centipedes use for predation.
Unlike the predatory centipedes which are part of the Chilopoda class, symphylans belong to the Symphyla class and are vegetarian, often feeding on plant roots. They have three pairs of thoracic legs and about nine pairs of abdominal legs, totaling approximately twelve pairs.
In contrast, centipedes (Chilopoda) have one pair of legs per body segment and possess forcipules for hunting prey. Millipedes (Diplopoda) have two pairs of legs per body segment and are usually rounder in cross-section, acting more as herbivores or detritivores.
Pauropods have fewer segments and a distinct pattern of movement, but the creature described does not match their characteristics. Similarly, isopods are not myriapods but belong to another order entirely, typically seen as woodlice or pillbugs.