Spilaio Kourna

Higher Geography
Region: Kriti,
Sub-Region: Chania,
Municipality: Apokoronas,
Closest Settlement: Kournas
Cave type
Natural
Protection status
  • GR4340010 - Drapano (voreioanatolikes Aktes) - Paralia Georgioupolis - Limni Kourna (Special Area of Conservation): Law 3937/2011 (OGG/Α 60/31.03.2011), Joint Ministerial Decision 50743/2017 (OGG 4432/B/15.12.17). Check site’s Standard Data Form
Fauna
  • Chthonius minotaurus Henderickx, 1997, Henderickx 1997, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Pseudoscorpionida / Family: Chthoniidae
  • Eopolita protensa (A. Férussac, 1832), Karakasi et al. 2024
    Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda / Order: Stylommatophora / Family: Oxychilidae
  • Graeconiscus kournasensis Schmalfuss, Paragamian & Sfenthourakis, 2004, Schmalfuss et al. 2004, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Malacostraca / Order: Isopoda / Family: Trichoniscidae
  • Harpactea persephone Gasparo, 2011, Gasparo 2011b, Bosmans et al. 2013, Kunt et al. 2016, Gücel et al. 2019
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Dysderidae
  • Hoplopholcus labyrinthi (Kulczynski, 1903), Huber 2020
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Pholcidae
  • Kryptonesticus henderickxi Bosselaers, 1998, Bosselaers 1998, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016, Pavlek & Ribera 2017
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Nesticidae
  • Metellina merianae (Scopoli, 1763), Naumova et al. 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Tetragnathidae
  • Pachyiulus varius (Fabricius, 1781), Lang 1964, Felesaki et al. 2010, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Diplopoda / Order: Julida / Family: Julidae
  • Platanosphaera kournasensis Schmalfuss, Paragamian & Sfenthourakis, 2004, Schmalfuss 2003, Schmalfuss et al. 2004, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Malacostraca / Order: Isopoda / Family: Armadillidiidae
  • Schistophallus spratti (Westerlund, 1892), Karakasi et al. 2024
    Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda / Order: Stylommatophora / Family: Oxychilidae
  • Tandonia sp., Karakasi et al. 2024
    Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda / Order: Stylommatophora / Family: Milacidae
  • Trachelipus cavaticus Schmalfuss, Paragamian & Sfenthourakis, 2004, Schmalfuss et al. 2004, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Malacostraca / Order: Isopoda / Family: Trachelipodidae
  • Trachelipus kytherensis (Strouhal, 1929), Schmalfuss et al. 2004
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Malacostraca / Order: Isopoda / Family: Trachelipodidae
  • Trichoniscus lindbergi Vandel, 1958, Schmalfuss et al. 2004, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Malacostraca / Order: Isopoda / Family: Trichoniscidae
  • Troglophilus spinulosus Chopard, 1921, Allegrucci et al. 2017
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Orthoptera / Family: Rhaphidophoridae
Cave references
  • Platakis, E. 1961. The cave “Kourna” (CRNr 1094). Bull. Soc. Speleol. Grèce 6:2–11.
Species references
  • Allegrucci, G., Ketmaier, V., Di Russo, C., Rampini, M., Sbordoni, V. & Cobolli, M. 2017. Molecular phylogeography of Troglophilus cave crickets (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae): A combination of vicariance and dispersal drove diversification in the East Mediterranean region. J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res.: 1-16.
  • Beron, P. 2016. Faune cavernicole de la Grèce. Maison d'édition Est-West., Sofia. pp. 229.
  • Bosmans, R. & Chatzaki, M. 2005. A catalogue of the spiders of Greece. A critical review of all spider species cited from Greece with their localities. Newsletter Belg. Arachn. Soc., 20 (2): 1-124.
  • Bosmans, R., Van Keer, J., Russell-Smith, A., Kronestedt, T., Alderweireldt, M., Bosselaers, J. & De Koninck, H. 2013. Spiders of Crete (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from the Greek Island of Crete. Newsletter Belg. Arachn. Soc., 28 (1): 1-147.
  • Bosselaers, J. 1998. Nesticus henderickxi n.s. (Araneae, Nesticidae), a new blind trogrobitic spider from Crete. Bull. br. arachnol. Soc., 11 (1): 9-14.
  • Felesaki, I., Stoev, P., Simaiakis, S. & Mylonas, M. 2010. A catalogue of the millipedes of Crete (Myriapoda: Diplopoda). Natura Montenegrina, 9 (3): 357-368.
  • Gasparo, F. 2011. Una Nuova Harpactea Cavernicola Di Creta (Araneae, Dysderidae). Atti e memorie della commisione grotte "E. Boegan", 43: 57-65.
  • Gücel S, Charalambidou I, Göçmen B, Kunt KB. 2019. New data of spiders (Arachnida , Araneae) of Cyprus. 1. Dysderidae found in caves. ZooKeys 825:43–53.
  • Henderickx, H. 1997. Chthonius (Chthonius) minotaurus (Heterosphyronida, Chthoniidae), a new troglobitic pseudoscorpion from Crete. Phegea, 25 (2): 81-87.
  • Huber B.A. 2020. Revision of the spider genus Hoplopholcus Kulczyński (Araneae, Pholcidae). Zootaxa 4726:1–94.
  • Karakasi D, Paragamian K, Mylonas M, Vardinoyannis K 2024. What`s crawling in the dark? An annotated list of gastropods in Greek caves.. Subterranean Biology 48: 73-116. https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.48.113383
  • Kunt, K. B., Özkütük, R. S., Elverici, M., Marusik, Y. M., Karakaş, G. 2016. Harpactea karaschkhan sp. n., a new cave-dwelling blind spider species from the Mediterranean region of Turkey. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 78(1): 36-40
  • Lang, J. 1964. Diplopoden aus Griechenland, Kreta, der Türkei und Iran aus dem Sammlungen von Dr. K. Lindberg. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohemoslov., 28 (3): 237-246.
  • Naumova, M., Lazarov, S., Petrov, B. & Deltshev, C. 2016. New faunistic data on the cave-dwelling spiders in the Balkan Peninsula (Araneae). Ecologica Montenegrina, 7: 425-438.
  • Pavlek, M. & Ribera, C. 2017. Kryptonesticus deelemanae gen. et sp. nov. (Araneae, Nesticidae), with notes on the Mediterranean cave species. European Journal of Taxonomy, 262: 1-27.
  • Schmalfuss, H. 2003. World catalog of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea). Stuttgart. Beitr. Naturk. Ser. A. (Biol.), 654: 1-341.
  • Schmalfuss, H., Paragamian, K. & Sfenthourakis, S. 2004. The terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea) of Crete and the surrounding islands. Stuttgart. Beitr. Naturk. Ser. A. (Biol.), 662: 1-74.
Citation
Paragamian, K. 2026. Fauna of the cave Spilaio Kourna, Kournas, Apokoronas, Kriti. In Paragamian, K., M. Poulinakis, S. Paragamian and I. Nikoloudakis. Cave fauna of Greece database - Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research. Cave data updated 31.01.2018, Accessed 09.03.2026