What`s crawling in the dark? An annotated list of gastropods in Greek caves

By

Karakasi, Danae
Paragamian, Kaloust
Mylonas, Moissis
Vardinoyannis, Katerina

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024

Original Publication

Subterranean Biology

Volume

48

Pages

73--116

Subjects

Biodiversity , Cave fauna , Gastropoda , Greece , Snails

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.48.113383

 

Abstract

Greece is covered by a high percentage of carbonate rocks, resulting in a significant number of over 10,000 caves within its territory. Their fauna is not well known. Concerning gastropods, 68 terrestrial species have been reported from 70 caves. In this study, we contribute to the knowledge of the snails inhabiting Greek caves. We analyzed the literature and studied all the material deposited in the Natural History Museum of Crete, to create a first comprehensive list of gastropods of Greek caves. The number of caves from which gastropod species were reported increased to 182, while the number of known terrestrial species increased to 113. Fourteen of these species live only in caves, twelve of which are endemic of Greece. However, the fauna of Greek caves is still understudied. With the increasing exploration of Greek caves, the number of the known cave-dwelling gastropod species will increase and new species will be discovered.