A review of cave spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Crimean Mountains, with descriptions of two new species.

ABSTRACT: Based on a critical review of the literature and study of the authors' own collections, a survey of cave spiders of the Crimean Mountains has been conducted, resulting in 20 reliable species records in eight families. Nine species have been discovered in the Crimean caves for the first time, of which two are described as new to science. A classification of spiders by ecological groups depending on their cave lifestyle is provided; a troglomorphic spider is found and described from Crimea for the first time. The most likely scenarios of spider colonization into underground habitats of Crimea are discussed. Most species arrived during multiple Pleistocene-Holocene regressions of the Black Sea basin, when zoogeographic corridors on the exposed shelf connected Crimea with the Caucasus and the

SUBMITTER: Nadolny AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11905112 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature