Fishing spiders

Dolomedes, also known as fishing spiders, dock spiders, or wharf spiders. Fishing spiders are semi-aquatic spiders that typically live near water and can run on water surfaces to catch prey. Fishing Spiders have hydrophobic hair on their skin that lets them survive in and on water. There are currently 101 species of fishing spiders.

Scientific Classification

Dark Fishing Spider on white background
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Family:	Dolomedidae

Description

Often mistaken as Wolf spiders, Fishing spiders typically have brown or gray markings on their bodies, with brown and black markings on each of their legs. Legs can range between 2 to 4 inches in diameter, and the bodies are found to be over 1 inch in length. Fishing spiders have 8 eyes, two horizontal rows of four eyes. They have tiny velvety hydrophobic hairs all over their body.

Habitats

Fishing spiders live primarily in small lakes and ponds as they typically feed on aquatic prey, but similar to most other spiders, fishing spiders are opportunistic hunters and will venture onto drier land for prey. Their webs are built under rocks or wooded areas.[1]

Mating and Reproduction

Reproduction litter size: 1000 - 1200. During breeding, the male spiders always die. [2]

References

[1] “Dark Fishing Spider.” Missouri Department of Conservation, 31 Dec. 2024, mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/dark-fishing-spider#:~:text=Habitat%20and%20Conservation,occurs%20in%20drier%20wooded%20areas. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

‌[2] Schwartz, Steven K., et al. “Spontaneous Male Death and Monogyny in the Dark Fishing Spider.” Biology Letters, vol. 9, no. 4, The Royal Society, Aug. 2013, p. 20130113, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0113. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

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