Niphargus lefkodemonaki (Sket, 1990)

Higher Taxonomy
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Amphipoda
Family: Niphargidae
Genus: Niphargus
Characterisation
Stygobiont
Distribution
Endemic to Greece
Locus Typicus
Spilaio Daimonospilios
Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Chania / Municipality: Platanias / Closest settlement: Lakkoi
Distribution in caves of Greece
  • Spilaio Daimonospilios, Sket 1990, Beron 2016, Karaman 2016, Zettler & Zettler 2017, Sket & Karaman 2019, Ntakis et al. 2020, Stoch et al. 2024
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Chania / Municipality: Platanias / Closest settlement: Lakkoi
Comments

Only known from the type locality. Synonymy: Originally described as Niphargobates leflkodemonaki Sket, 1990. Karaman (2016) renamed the genus to Niphargobatoides which was finally synonymised to Niphargus (Sket & Karaman 2019, Stoch et al. 2024). 

IUCN Red List
DD - Data Deficient
Greece's Red Data Book
DD - Data Deficient
Protection status
  • There is no species-specific legal framework for protection.
Check Databases
Fauna Europea
GBIF
IUCN Red List
PESI
Species references
  • Beron, P. 2016. Faune cavernicole de la Grèce. Maison d'édition Est-West., Sofia. pp. 229.
  • Karaman, G. S. 2016. Two New Genera of the Family Niphargidae from Greece (Contribution to the Knowledge of the Amphipoda 287). Agriculture and Forestry, 62 (1): 7-27.
  • Ntakis A, Karaouzas I, Fišer C & Stoch F. 2020. An annotated checklist of the Niphargidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda) of Greece. . Zootaxa, 4772(3), 517–544. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4772.3.5
  • Sket B, Karaman G.S. 2019. Phylogenetic position of the genus Chaetoniphargus Karaman et Sket (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Niphargidae) from dinaric karst. An extreme case of homoplasy / Filogenetski položaj rodu Chaetoniphargus Karaman et Sket (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Niphargidae).. Folia biologica et geologica. 59(2): 93., available online at https://doi.org/10.3986/fbg0046
  • Sket, B. 1990. Is Niphargobates lefkodemonaki sp. n. (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from Kriti (Greece) a Zoogeographical Enigma?. Zool. Jb. Syst., 117: 1-10.
  • Stoch F, Citoleux J, Weber D, Salussolia A, Flot J.-F. (2024). 2024. New insights into the origin and phylogeny of Niphargidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda), with description of a new species and synonymization of the genus Niphargellus with Niphargus.. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 202(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae154
  • Zettler, M., Zettler, A. 2017. A new species of Niphargus (Amphipoda, Niphargidae) from Crete (Greece). Crustaceana 90:1415–1426.
Citation
Paragamian, K. 2026. Niphargus lefkodemonaki (Sket, 1990). In Paragamian, K., M. Poulinakis, S. Paragamian and I. Nikoloudakis. Cave fauna of Greece database - Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research. Species data updated 01.06.2026, Accessed 24.08.2026