Spilaio Katafygi Dirou

Higher Geography
Region: Peloponnisos,
Sub-Region: Lakonia,
Municipality: Anatoliki Mani,
Closest Settlement: Pyrgos Dirou
Cave type
Natural
Description / Comments

The cave is situated a few hundred meters west of the caves of Alepotrypa and Glyfada Dyrou is located at 15m a.s.l. The entrance is spacious (4*7m). The most distant part is 170m from the entrance, the total length of the passageways is 600m and the floor covers an area of 2,700 sq. m. The maximum ceiling height is 10 m. Speleothems are rich in forms and quite developed.

Protection status
  • Archaeological Site - Ministerial Decisions: 9396/24-8-1963 (OGG 408/Β/18-9-1963), 22154/1203/12-5-1999 (OGG 992/Β/27-5-1999)
  • GR2540008 - Notia Mani (Special Protection Area): 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
  • Acanthopetalum patens Strasser, 1973, Strasser 1973, Strasser 1974, Stoev et al. 2008, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Diplopoda / Order: Callipodida / Family: Schizopetalidae
  • Alucita grammodactyla Zeller, 1841, Lindberg 1955b, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Lepidoptera / Family: Alucitidae
  • Amaurorhinus hauseri Osella, 1983, Osella 1983, Osella & Pogliano Osella 1986, Osella et al. 1993, Osella & Zuppa 1998, Hlaváč & Maughan 2013, Beron 2016, Morrone & Hlaváč 2017
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Coleoptera / Family: Curculionidae
  • Arctodiaptomus byzantinus Mann, 1940, Lindberg 1955d, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Maxillopoda / Order: Calanoida / Family: Diaptomidae
  • Eschatocephalus simplex (Neumann, 1906), Arthur 1956, Beaucournu 1966
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Ixodida / Family: Ixodidae
  • Haemaphysalis punctata Canestrini & Fanzago, 1878, Lindberg 1955d, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Ixodida / Family: Ixodidae
  • Trachysphaera sp., Strasser 1974, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Diplopoda / Order: Glomerida / Family: Trachysphaeridae
  • Trichonemasoma peloponesius (Mauriès, 1966), Strasser 1974, Kime & Enghoff 2017
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Diplopoda / Order: Julida / Family: Blaniulidae
Cave references
  • Lindberg ,K. 1955. Notes sur le grottes de la Grèce. Acta Mus. Macedonici Sci. Nat. 3(2):41-69.
  • Petrocheilos, I. 1958. Speleological researches in the area of Dyros, Lakonia. Bull. Soc. Speleol. Grèce 4:57–95.
  • Petrocheilos, I. 1953. Speleological researches at Mani. Bull. Soc. Speleol. Grèce 2:9–25.
  • Petrocheilou, A. 1984. The Greek Caves. Ekdotiki Athinon 160pp.
  • Petrocheilou, A. 1955. The cave Katafyngi of Dyros. Bull. Soc. Speleol. Grèce 3:71–72.
Species references
  • Arthur, D. R. 1956. The Ixodes ticks of Chiroptera (Ixodoidea: Ixodidae). J. Parasit., 42: 180-196.
  • Beaucournu, J. C. 1966. Sur quelques Ixodoidea (Acarina) palearctiques infeodes aux micro-Chiropteres. Ann. Parasitol. Hum. Comp., 41 (5): 495-502.
  • Beron, P. 2016. Faune cavernicole de la Grèce. Maison d'édition Est-West., Sofia. pp. 229.
  • 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.
  • Kime R.D. & Enghoff H. 2017. Atlas of European millipedes 2: Order Julida (Class Diplopoda). European Journal of Taxonomy 346: 1–299.
  • Lindberg, K. 1955. Cyclopides (Crustacés copépodes) de la Grèce II. Fragm. Balc., Skopje, 1 (23): 189-195.
  • Lindberg, K. 1955. Notes sur le grottes de la Grèce. Acta Mus. Maced. Sci. Natur. Skopje 3: 41–69
  • 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. & Pogliano Osella, M. 1986. Nuovi curculionidi endogei del Mediterraneo occidentale (Coleoptera).. Boll. Mus. civ. St. nat. Verona, 11: 53–68.
  • Osella, G. & Zuppa, A. M. 1998. Coleoptera Curculionoidea. In: Juberthie, C. & Decu, V. Encyclopaedia Biospeologica II. Publisher. pp. 1123-1130.
  • Osella, G. 1983. Amaurorrhinus hauseri n. sp. del Peloponneso (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cossoninae). Rev. suisse Zool., 90 (3): 533-536.
  • Osella, G., Zuppa, A.M. & Lodos, N. 1993. I Cossoninae d'Anatolia e regioni viciniori (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). Fragm. Entomol., 24: 243–305.
  • Stoev, P., Sierwald, P. & Billey, A. 2008. An annotated world catalogue of the millipede order Callipodida (Arthropoda: Diplopoda).. Zootaxa, 1706:1–50.
  • Strasser, K. 1973. Zwei neue griechische Acanthopetalum-Arten (Diplopoda, Callipodida). Fragm. Entomol., 8 (5): 237-245.
  • Strasser, K. 1974. Über Diplopoda-Chilognatha Griechenlands. Rev. suisse Zool., 81 (1): 219-300.
Citation
Paragamian, K. 2026. Fauna of the cave Spilaio Katafygi Dirou, Pyrgos Dirou, Anatoliki Mani, Peloponnisos. In Paragamian, K., M. Poulinakis, S. Paragamian and I. Nikoloudakis. Cave fauna of Greece database - Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research. Cave data updated 13.01.2020, Accessed 19.04.2026