Published October 17, 2025
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An extraordinary colonial spider community in Sulfur Cave (Albania/Greece) sustained by chemoautotrophy
Authors/Creators
- 1. Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania
- 2. University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania
- 3. Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium|University of Maastricht, Maastricht, Netherlands
- 4. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium|Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
- 5. University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- 6. "Grigore Antipa" National Museum of Natural History, Bucharest, Romania|Romanian Academy Cluj-Napoca Branch, Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- 7. Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels - (IB)², Brussels, Belgium|Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium|Brussels Laboratory of the Universe - BLU, Brussels, Belgium
- 8. Romanian Academy Cluj-Napoca Branch, Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- 9. Gruppo Speleologico Archeologico Livornese of the Mediterranean Natural History Museum, Livorno, Italy
- 10. Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology, Biospeleology and Karst Edaphobiology Compartment, București, Romania|California State University, Chico, United States of America|Romanian Academy Cluj-Napoca Branch, Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- 11. Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology, Biospeleology and Karst Edaphobiology Compartment, București, Romania|Romanian Academy Cluj-Napoca Branch, Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Description
We report the discovery and detailed analysis of an extraordinary colonial spider assemblage in Sulfur Cave, a chemoautotrophic sulfidic ecosystem located on the Albania-Greece border. The colony, comprising an estimated 69,000 individuals of Tegenaria domestica (Agelenidae) and more than 42,000 of Prinerigone vagans (Linyphiidae), spans a surface area of over 100 m²—representing the first documented case of colonial web formation in these species. Stable isotope analyses (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) revealed that the trophic web sustaining this assemblage is fueled by in situ primary production from sulfur-oxidizing microbial biofilms then transferred through chironomid larvae and adults to higher trophic levels. Morphological and molecular data confirmed the identity of the two spider species and revealed that their populations in Sulfur Cave are genetically distinct from other populations. Regarding T. domestica, we found a seasonal pattern in fecundity, with significantly larger egg clutches in early summer. Microbiome analysis of this species also revealed a lower Shannon diversity in the cave population compared with a surface individual captured nearby. Our findings unveil a unique case of facultative coloniality in this cosmopolitan spider, likely driven by resource abundance in a chemoautotrophic cave, and provide new insights into the adaptation and trophic integration of surface species in sulfidic subterranean habitats.
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