Hoplopholcus minotaurinus Senglet, 1971

Higher Taxonomy
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Pholcidae
Genus: Hoplopholcus
Characterisation
Troglophile
Distribution
Endemic to Greece
Locus Typicus
Spilaio Milatou
Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Agios Nikolaos / Closest settlement: Milatos
Distribution in caves of Greece
  • Spilaio Gaidourotrypa, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Agios Nikolaos / Closest settlement: Kritsa
  • Spilaio Milatou, Senglet 1971, Brignoli 1976, Brignoli 1979a, Brignoli 1984, Gasparo 2003, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Huber 2012, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016, Eberle et al 2018, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Agios Nikolaos / Closest settlement: Milatos
  • Latsida Gaidaron, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Ierapetra / Closest settlement: Kavousi
  • Spilaio sta Koufota, Bosmans et al. 2013, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Siteia / Closest settlement: Agia Fotia
  • Spilaio Megalo Katofygi, Roewer 1959, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Siteia / Closest settlement: Agios Georgios
  • Varathro Stou Tziveni ta Plagia, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Siteia / Closest settlement: Chamaitoulo
  • Spiliara Karoumon, Brignoli 1971b, Brignoli 1979a, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Siteia / Closest settlement: Chochlakies
  • Varathro Latsida Adiavatou, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Siteia / Closest settlement: Chochlakies
  • Varathro Chonos, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Siteia / Closest settlement: Chonos
  • Spilaio Kato Peristeras, Bosmans et al. 2013
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Siteia / Closest settlement: Karydi
  • Spilaio sta Pelekita, Brignoli 1984, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Siteia / Closest settlement: Kato Zakros
  • Spilaio Katsibourdou, Brignoli 1984, Senglet 2001, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Huber 2020
    Region: Kriti / Regional unit: Lasithi / Municipality: Siteia / Closest settlement: Zakros
Comments

Known only from caves in eastern Crete (Lasithi). H. minotaurinus was misidentified in previous publications as H. labyrinthi in the caves of Doxa, and Neraidospilios (Irakleio) and the cave of Trapeza (Lasithi) (Huber 2020). 

IUCN Red List
LC - Least Concern
Greece's Red Data Book
LC - Least Concern
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.
  • 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. 1971. Su alcuni Lepthyphantes di Creta (Araneae, Linyphiidae). Fragm. Entomol., 7 (4): 231-241.
  • 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. 1984. Ragni di Grecia XII. Nuovi dati su varie famiglie (Araneae). Rev. suisse Zool., 91 (2): 281-321.
  • Eberle J, Dimitrov D, Valdez-mondragón A, Huber BA 2018. Microhabitat change drives diversification in pholcid spiders. BMC Evol Biol 18, 141 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-018-1244-8
  • Gasparo, F. 2003. Tre campagne biospeleologiche a Creta. Progressione, 48 (1): 59-62.
  • Huber, Β.A. 2012. An annotated list of the pholcid spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae) deposited at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris.. Version 2, 25pp, http://www.pholcidae.de/PDFs/Paris_collection_2012.pdf , accessed on 18.2.2018
  • Huber B.A. 2020. Revision of the spider genus Hoplopholcus Kulczyński (Araneae, Pholcidae). Zootaxa 4726:1–94.
  • 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.
  • Senglet, A. 1971. Note sur les Pholcidae de Grèce. Mitt. schweiz. ent. Ges., 44: 345-359.
  • Senglet, A. 2001. Copulatory mechanisms in Hoplopholcus, Stygopholcus (revalidated), Pholcus, Spermophora and Spermophorides (Araneae, Pholcidae), with additional faunistic and taxonomic data. Mitt. schweiz. ent. Ges., 74: 43-67.
Citation
Paragamian, K. 2026. Hoplopholcus minotaurinus Senglet, 1971. In Paragamian, K., M. Poulinakis, S. Paragamian and I. Nikoloudakis. Cave fauna of Greece database - Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research. Species data updated 17.11.2025, Accessed 08.02.2026