Barr's Cave Spider
Nesticus barri Gertsch, 1984
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Chelicerata |
| Class | Arachnida |
| Order | Araneae |
| Family | Nesticidae |
| Genus | Nesticus |
| Species | Nesticus barri Gertsch, 1984 |
Synonyms
- Nesticus valentinei Gertsch, 1984 (subjective synonym, CoL)
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Troglobiont
- Realm
- Terrestrial
- Troglomorphy
- Troglomorphic
Distribution
Type locality
Mokay Cave, Franklin Co. TN
Range
Known from six counties across two states in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.
Continent
North America
Country
United States
States and provinces
Alabama, Tennessee
Counties
- Alabama
- Jackson, Marshall
- Tennessee
- Blount, Franklin, Marion, Overton
Karst regions
Interior Low Plateau
Genetics
Molecular resources
| Marker | Molecule | Sequences | Length | Exemplar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COI | mitochondrial | 51 | 575-1071 bp | OQ095111.1 |
| 16S | mitochondrial | 4 | 563-563 bp | AF004599.1 |
| 28S | nuclear | 2 | 415-415 bp | AF003770.1 |
57 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.
Download all 57 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.
Specimens
Collections holding material
| Institution | Lots |
|---|---|
| San Diego State University | 4 |
4 cataloged lots in 1 collection. Compiled from GBIF and not an exhaustive census: many collections are not yet digitised, and holdings are added continually. Search GBIF for specimen records.
Download all 4 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.
Conservation and management
NatureServe
G3 Vulnerable
Global rank last reviewed 25 February 2008.
Subnational ranks
- Alabama
- S3 Vulnerable
- Tennessee
- S3 Vulnerable
Ranks looked up 23 August 2026. Conservation status changes, and a rank here is as current as that date and no more.
State and federal status
Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Other resources
References
- Balogh, A., Ngo, L., Zigler, K.S. & Dixon, G. 2020. Population genomics in two cave-obligate invertebrates confirms extremely limited dispersal between caves. Scientific Reports 10: 17554. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-74508-9
- Carver, L.M., Perlaky, P., Cressler, A. & Zigler, K.S. 2016. Reproductive seasonality in Nesticus (Araneae: Nesticidae) cave spiders. PLOS One 11: e0156751. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156751
- Dixon, G.B. & Zigler, K.S. 2011. Cave-obligate biodiversity on the campus of Sewanee: The University of the South, Franklin County, Tennessee. Southeastern Naturalist 10: 251–266. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41263008. details
- Gertsch, W.J. 1984. The spider family Nesticidae (Araneae) in North America, Central America and the West Indies. Texas Memorial Museum Bulletin 31: 1–91.
- Hedin, M.C. 1997. Speciational history in a diverse clade of habitat-specialized spiders (Araneae: Nesticidae: Nesticus): inferences from geographic-based sampling. Evolution 51: 1929–1945. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1997.tb05115.x
- Hedin, M. & Dellinger, B. 2005. Descriptions of a new species and previously unknown males of Nesticus (Araneae: Nesticidae) from caves in eastern North America, with comments on species rarity. Zootaxa 904: 1–19.
- Hobbs, III., H.H. 1994. Assessment of the ecological resources of the caves of Russell Cave National Monument, Jackson County, Alabama and of selected caves at the Lookout Mountain Unit of Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, Dade County, Georgia and Hamilton County, Tennessee. 200 pp.
- Lewis, J.J. 2005a. A biological inventory of caves of the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 156 pp.
- Lewis, J.J. 2009b. Eight new cavernicolous species of the milliped genus Pseudotremia (Diplopoda: Chordeumatida: Cleidogonidae). In: Roble, S.M. & Mithcell, J.C. (eds), A Lifetime of Contributions to Myriapodology and the Natural History of Virginia: A Festschrift in Honor of Richard L. Hoffman’s 80th Birthday. Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 16, pp. 171–186. Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville, Virginia, USA.
- Niemiller, M.L., Slay, M.E., Inebnit, T., Miller, B., Tobin, B., Cramphorn, B., Hinkle, A., Jones, B.D., Mann, N. & Niemiller, K.D.K. 2023a. Fern Cave: a hotspot of subterranean biodiversity in the Interior Low Plateau karst region of Alabama in the southeastern United States. Diversity 15: 633. doi:10.3390/d15050633
- Niemiller, M.L. & Zigler, K.S. 2013. Patterns of cave biodiversity and endemism in the Appalachians and Interior Plateau of Tennessee, USA. PLOS One 8: e64177. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064177
- Peck, S.B. 1989. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part I. The terrestrial invertebrates (excluding insects). National Speleological Society Bulletin 51: 11–33.
- Snowman, C.V., Zigler, K.S. & Hedin, M. 2010. Caves as islands: mitochondrial phylogeography of the cave-obligate spider species Nesticus barri (Araneae: Nesticidae). The Journal of Arachnology 38: 49–56. doi:10.1636/A09-057.1
- Wakefield, K.R. & Zigler, K.S. 2012. Obligate subterranean fauna of Carter State Natural Area, Franklin County, Tennessee. Speleolobiology Notes 4: 24–28.
- Zigler, K.S. & Milne, M.A. 2022. Two new Nesticus Thorell, 1869 (Araneae: Nesticidae) from caves in northwest Georgia, USA. The Journal of Arachnology 50: 292–300. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27233972. details
This account was last revised 28 August 2026. Conservation ranks were looked up 23 August 2026.
How to cite this account
Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.
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