| Haitón del Guarataro | |
| Photo Width: | 256px |
| Map: | Venezuela |
| Map Width: | 256px |
| Location: | Falcón State, Venezuela |
| Coords: | 11.1497°N -69.6898°W |
| Discovery: | April 1973 |
| Geology: | Oligocene limestone |
| Entrance Count: | 1 |
| Hazards: | Verticality |
| Survey: | BKRE 1973 |
The Haitón del Guarataro is a solutional cave system in the Sierra de San Luis in Falcón State, Venezuela, south-east of Curimagua. It is the deepest limestone cave in Venezuela,[1] and the entrance is a tourist attraction within the Juan Crisóstomo Falcón National Park.[2] A large entrance shaft in diameter leads via drops of,, and to a stream passage which follows the dip down for a distance of about 350m (1,150feet) to the north to where it eventually chokes. An upstream passage is intercepted which runs south for about 150m (490feet) to the base of a shaft. The cave has a depth of, and a total passage length of . It was first explored and surveyed in April 1973 by members of the Venezuela '73 British Karst Research Expedition.[3] [4] It is formed in Oligocene reefal limestone.[5]
A faunal survey was undertaken during the exploration of the cave, but only a few cavernicoles were recorded. They included cave crickets, phalangodid harvestmen, a depigmented troglophile garnmarid shrimp (Hyalella meinerti) found in a large pool, and a troglobitic trichopolydesmid millipede found on the roof of the terminal chamber.[6]
