Tartarus (spider)

{{Short description|Genus of spiders}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = | image = Mullamullang Spider detail.jpg | image_caption = ''[[Tartarus mullamullangensis]]'' | image2 = | image2_caption = | taxon = Tartarus | authority = [[Michael R. Gray|Gray]], 1973 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | diversity_link = | diversity = 4 species | range_map = }}

'''''Tartarus''''' is a [[genus]] of spiders in the family [[Stiphidiidae]].<ref name="fix1" /> All four described species are found in cave systems of [[Western Australia]].<ref name="fix2" /> These are located in the [[karst]] area of the [[Nullarbor Plain]]. They are likely [[Relict (biology)|relict]] species from a time when the region was much more humid, given the fact that the other members of the family [[Stiphidiidae]] in Southern Australia live in forests.

==Names== The genus name is derived from [[Tartarus]], a place in the underworld of [[Greek mythology]], even lower than [[Hades]]. All four species take their common names, and the specific epithet, from the caves in which they were first collected.

''Tartarus murdochensis'' and ''Tartarus thampannensis'' are both commonly called [[Murdoch, Western Australia|Murdoch]] sink cave spider, ''Tartarus nurinensis'' is also known as the Nurina cave spider.

==Species== {{as of|2026|1}}, this genus includes four species:<ref name="wsc" /> {{Div col}} * ''[[Tartarus mullamullangensis]]'' Gray, 1973 – [[Australia]] (Western Australia) * ''[[Tartarus murdochensis]]'' Gray, 1992 – Australia (Western Australia) * ''[[Tartarus nurinensis]]'' Gray, 1992 – Australia (Western Australia) * ''[[Tartarus thampannensis]]'' Gray, 1992 – Australia (Western Australia) {{Div col end}}

==References== <references> <ref name="wsc">{{cite web | url=https://wsc.nmbe.ch/lsid/urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidergen:03373 | title=Gen. Gray, 1973 | publisher=World Spider Catalog | doi=10.24436/2 | accessdate=2026-01-25}}</ref> <ref name="fix1">{{Cite web |title=Genus ''Tartarus'' Gray, 1973 |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Tartarus |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=Australian Faunal Directory |publisher=Australian Government}}</ref> <ref name="fix2">{{Cite Q|Q99656009}}</ref> </references> * {{Cite book |last=Burbidge |first=Andrew A |title=Threatened animals of Western Australia |year=2004 |publisher=Department of Conservation and Land Management |isbn=0-7307-5549-5 }}

==External links== * [http://www.amonline.net.au/collections/arachnology/nullabor.htm Mike Gray: Cave Spiders of the Nullarbor]

[[Category:Stiphidiidae]] [[Category:Spiders of Australia]] [[Category:Cave spiders]] [[Category:Arachnids of Western Australia]] [[Category:Araneomorphae genera]] [[Category:Taxa named by Michael R. Gray]]