Texella cokendolpheri

Texella cokendolpheri is a rare species of arachnid known by the common name Cokendolpher Cave harvestman. It may also be called the Robber Baron cave harvestman.[2] It is endemic to Texas in the United States, where it is only known from a single cave in Bexar County. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.[1]

Texella cokendolpheri

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Arachnida
Order:
Opiliones
Family:
Phalangodidae
Genus:
Texella
Species:
T. cokendolpheri
Binomial name
Texella cokendolpheri
Ubick and Briggs, 1992

This is "a small eyeless or essentially eyeless" harvestman.[1] It is pale orange in color.[2] It is a troglobite that lives its whole life in akarst cave. It is known only from Robber Baron Cave in Bexar County, a cave which runs underneath a heavily urbanized area. The cave is owned by the Texas Cave Management Association. This cave is also the only home for the Robber Baron cave meshweaver (Cicurina baronia), a spider.[1]

The worst threat to this and other rare local troglobites is the outright loss of their cave habitat, which is destroyed as the land is consumed for urban development, or during quarrying operations. Caves are also altered and polluted so that they cannot support this and other species.[1]

References
  1. Texella cokendolpheri. The Nature Conservancy.
  2. USFWS. Draft Bexar County Karst Invertebrate Recovery Plan. March 2008.
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