WASHINGTON, June 19:
Researchers say spiders from at least eight different families can prey
on small fish and “fishing spiders” are probably geographically
widespread, occurring on all continents except Antarctica.
Spiders are traditionally viewed as
predators of insects but in recent years, researchers have become
increasingly aware that spiders are not exclusively insectivorous and
certain larger-sized species might supplement their insect diet by
occasionally catching small vertebrate prey.
Xinhua news agency reports in the new
study, Martin Nyffeler of University of Basel, Switzerland and Bradley
Pusey of University of Western Australia gathered and documented
numerous incidents of spiders predating fish from all around the world.
According to their systematic review,
spiders from as many as five families have been observed predating on
small fish in the wild and three more families contain species that
catch fish under laboratory conditions.
These so called semi-aquatic spiders
typically dwell at the fringes of shallow freshwater streams, ponds or
swamps, the researchers said...Continue reading...
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