Spilaio Neraidospilios

Higher Geography

Region: Kriti,
Sub-Region: Irakleio,
Municipality: Chersonisos,
Closest Settlement: Karteros

Cave Synonyms

Grotte Nereidospilia, Spilaio Eileithyias

Cave type

Natural

Protection status

• Archaeological Site - Ministerial Decisions: 9597/12-9-1970 (OGG 666/Β/23-9-1970), 1835/3071π.ε./17-11-1979 (OGG 210/Β/1-3-1980), 54962/2749/12-6-2012 (OGG 202/ΑΑΠ/14-6-2012)

Fauna

• Albinaria corrugata (Bruguière, 1792), Frank 1988, Karakasi et al. 2024
  Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda / Order: Stylommatophora / Family: Clausiliidae
• Bathytropa granulata Aubert & Dollfus, 1890, Vandel 1968, Schmalfuss 1972b, Beron 2016
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Malacostraca / Order: Isopoda / Family: Bathytropidae
• Chthonius lindbergi Beier, 1956, Beier 1956, Beier 1963, Mahnert 1979, Schawaller 1990, Harvey 1991, Beron 2016
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Pseudoscorpionida / Family: Chthoniidae
• Diacyclops crassicaudis (Sars G.O., 1863), Lindberg 1956, Beron 2016
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Hexanauplia / Order: Cyclopoida / Family: Cyclopidae
• Eucyclops serrulatus (Fischer, 1851), Lindberg 1956, Beron 2016
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Hexanauplia / Order: Cyclopoida / Family: Cyclopidae
• Hauseriola minoica Osella, 1980, Osella 1980, Osella et al. 1993, Osella & Zuppa 1998, Hlaváč & Maughan 2013, Beron 2016, Morrone & Hlaváč 2017
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Coleoptera / Family: Curculionidae
• Hoplopholcus labyrinthi (Kulczynski, 1903), Roewer 1959, Brignoli 1976, Brignoli 1979a, Brignoli 1984, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016, Huber 2020
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Pholcidae
• Mastus cretensis (L. Pfeiffer, 1846), Frank 1988
  Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda / Order: Stylommatophora / Family: Enidae
• Minotauria attemsi Kulczynski, 1903, Roewer 1959, Brignoli 1979a, Deeleman-Reinhold 1993, Gasparo 2003, Gasparo 2004a, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Dysderidae
• Ovaliptila lindbergi (Chopard 1957), Chopard 1957, Willemse 1984, Beron 2016
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Orthoptera / Family: Gryllidae
• Platanosphaera cavernarum (Vandel, 1958), Vandel 1958, Schmalfuss 1972b, Schmalfuss 1979, Beron 2016
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Malacostraca / Order: Isopoda / Family: Armadillidiidae
• Rhinolophus blasii Peters, 1866, Benda et al. 2009, Benda et al. 2019, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
  Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Rhinolophidae
• Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774), Benda et al. 2009, Benda et al. 2019, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
  Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Rhinolophidae
• Tegenaria parietina (Fourcroy, 1785), Roewer 1959, Brignoli 1979b, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Agelenidae
• Uloborus plumipes Lucas, 1846, Bosmans et al. 2013
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Uloboridae
• Winklerites sp., Osella 1980
  Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Coleoptera / Family: Carabidae

Cave references

• Lindberg, K. 1955. Notes sur le grottes de l΄ île de Crète. Fragm. balc. Skopje 1(19):165-174.
• Petrocheilou, A. 1984. The Greek Caves. Ekdotiki Athinon 160pp.

Species references

• Beier, M. 1956. Über einige Pseudoskorpione von Kreta. Entomol. Nachr. Ber., 8 (3): 8-9.
• Beier, M. 1963. Ordnung Pseudoscorpionidea (Afterskorpione). Bestimmungstab. Bodenf. Europas, 1: 1-313.
• Benda, P., Georgiakakis, P., Dietz, C., Hanak, V., Galanaki, K., Markantonatou, V., Chudarkova, A., Hulva, P. & Horacek, I. 2009. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Part 7. The bat fauna of Crete, Greece. Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae, 72 (3-4): 105-190.
• Benda, P., Ševčík, M., Bego, F., Sachanowicz, K., Spitzenberger, F., Tájek, P., Tájková, P., Uhrin, M. 2019. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Part 15. The fauna of bats and bat ectoparasites of Albania with a catalogue of bats from the western Balkans in the collection of the National Museum, Prague. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem. 83: 1–238
• 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.
• Brignoli, P. M. 1976. Ragni di Grecia IX. Specie nuove o interessanti delle famiglie Leptonetidae, Dysderidae, Pholcidae ed Agelenidae (Araneae). Rev. suisse Zool., 83 (3): 539-578.
• Brignoli, P. M. 1979. Ragni di Grecia XI. Specie nuove o interessanti, cavernicole ed epigee. Rev. suisse Zool., 86 (1): 181-202.
• Brignoli, P. M. 1979. Considérations zoogéographiques sur les Araignées cavernicoles de Grèce. Biol. gallo-hellen., 8: 223-236.
• Brignoli, P. M. 1984. Ragni di Grecia XII. Nuovi dati su varie famiglie (Araneae). Rev. suisse Zool., 91 (2): 281-321.
• Chopard, L. 1957. Notes sur les Orthoptères cavernicoles de Crète. Bull. Soc. entomol. Fr., 62 (1-2): 26-28.
• Deeleman-Reinhold, C. L. 1993. The genus Rhode and the harpacteine genera Stalagtia, Folkia, Minotauria and Kaemis (Araneae, Dysderidae) of Yugoslavia and Crete, with remarks on the genus Harpactea. Rev. Arachnol., 10 (6): 105-135.
• Frank, C. 1988. Über Molluskenfunde von den Inseln Chios , Kreta und Zypern sowie vom griechischen Festland (Thessalien). Ber. nat.-med. Ver. Innsbruck, 75: 81-90.
• Gasparo, F. 2003. Tre campagne biospeleologiche a Creta. Progressione, 48 (1): 59-62.
• Gasparo, F. 2004. Note sul genere Minotauria Kulczynski, 1903, con ridescrizione del maschio di M. fagei (Kratochvíl, 1970) stat. nov. (Araneae, Dysderidae). Atti e Memorie della Commissione Grotte “E. Boegan”, 39: 51-65.
• Georgiakakis P, Kafkaletou Diez A, Salvarina I, Benda P, Billington G, Dietz C, Billington J, Cove D, Davison S, Cooke M, Papadatou E. 2023. The Bats of Greece: An Updated Review of Their Distribution, Ecology and Conservation. Animals. 2023; 13(15):2529. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13152529
• Harvey, M.S. 1991. Catalogue of the Pseudoscorpionida.. Manchester University Press, 726 pp.
• Hlaváč, P. & Maughan, N. 2013. Cossoninae.. In: Löbl, I. & Smetana, A. (Eds.), Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Vol. 8. Curculionoidea II. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, pp. 217–229.
• 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
• Lindberg, K. 1956. Cyclopides (Crustacés copépodes) de Crète avec un liste de Crustacés divers recueillis dans de lac de Kourna. Acta Mus. Macedonici Sci. Nat., 4 (5): 97-120.
• Mahnert, V. 1979. Pseudoskorpione (Arachnida) aus Höhlen Griechenlands, insbesondere Kretas. Arch. Sci. Genève, 32 (3): 213-233.
• Morrone J. & Hlaváč P. 2017. Checklist of the micro- and anophthalmic soil-dwelling weevils of the world (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).. Zootaxa, 4239:1–102.
• Osella, G. & Zuppa, A. M. 1998. Coleoptera Curculionoidea. In: Juberthie, C. & Decu, V. Encyclopaedia Biospeologica II. Publisher. pp. 1123-1130.
• Osella, G. 1980. Due nuovi Curculionidi anoftalmi del Mediterraneo orientale (Coleoptera). (XXIII. Contributo alla conoscenza della Curculionidofauna endogea). Rev. suisse Zool., 87 (3): 813-819.
• Osella, G., Zuppa, A.M. & Lodos, N. 1993. I Cossoninae d'Anatolia e regioni viciniori (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). Fragm. Entomol., 24: 243–305.
• Roewer, C. F. 1959. Die Araneae, Solifuga und Opiliones der Sammlungen des Herrn Dr. K. Lindberg aus Griechenland, Creta, Anatolien, Iran und Indien. Göteborgs kungl. vet. vitterh. Samh. Handl., 8 (4): 3-47.
• Schawaller, W. 1990. Zwei neue höhlenbewohnende Chthonius-Arten (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones) von den Griechischen Inseln Santorin und Chios. Ann. Mus. Goulandris, 8: 417-424.
• Schmalfuss, H. 1972. Die Isopoden von Kreta. Biol. gallo-hellen., 4 (1): 33-60.
• Schmalfuss, H. 1979. Revidierte Check-List der Landisopoden (Oniscoidea) Griechenlands. Stuttgart. Beitr. Naturk. Ser. A. (Biol.), 331: 1-42.
• Vandel, A. 1958. Isopodes récoltés dans les grottes de la Crète par le Docteur K. Lindberg. Notes biospeol., 12 (2): 81-101.
• Vandel, A. 1968. Description d΄ un nouveau représentant de genre Cordioniscus (Crustacés, Isopoda, Oniscoidea, Styloniscidae) suivie de considérations sur les voies de migration de certains lignées d΄ Isopodes terrestres. Ann. Speleol., 23 (3): 621-632.
• Willemse, F. 1984. Catalogue of the Orthoptera of Greece. Fauna Graeciae I. Hellenic Zoological Society. pp. 275.

Citation

Paragamian, K. 2026. Fauna of the cave Spilaio Neraidospilios , Karteros, Chersonisos, Kriti. In Paragamian, K., M. Poulinakis, S. Paragamian and I. Nikoloudakis. Cave fauna of Greece database - Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research. Cave data updated 14.12.2023, Accessed 19.04.2026