The Nearctic Spider Database, http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/19669
Dolomedes triton (Walckenaer, 1837)
sixspotted fishing spider
FAMILY: PISAURIDAE Simon, 1890
Genus: Dolomedes Latreille, 1804
Species: Dolomedes triton (Walckenaer, 1837)
Author of this page: Shorthouse, David P. (Page complete and awaiting review)
General Comments: D. triton is distributed from southern Alaska to Maine, south to southern Mexico and Cuba.
Common Names
Family Common Name:
nursery web spiders
Genus Common Name:
fishing spiders
Species Common Name:
sixspotted fishing spider
Distribution
Global Distribution: North America, Cuba
Nearctic States & Provinces:
AB CO CT MT SC VA
Collection Locales Mapped by Year Collected:
Natural History, Phenology & Image(s)
Feeding Guild:‡
ambushers
‡Feeding guild when noted defined by Uetz, G. W., J. Halaj, and A. B. Cady. 1999. Guild structure of spiders in major crops. Journal of Arachnology 27:270-280.
Recorded Habitats:
Margins of ponds, lakes, quiet parts of rivers and streams. Individuals dive and hunt from emergent water plants and floating vegetation.
Life & Natural History:
Adults appear from late May to early June to September. Egg sacs seen from July to September.
Seasonality of Specimen Records:
Image(s) of Habitus:

Credit: Holmberg, Robert

Credit: larvalbug,
Details About Males
Description:
Carapace greenish grey to tan. Several indistinct dark bands radiate from dorsal groove. Margins dark, submarginal bands white and extend length of carapace. Legs pale with grey, irregular, dorsal lines. Abdomen pale brown to dark reddish-brown, has series of small paired white spots. Posterior of abdomen with indistinct transverse bands. Heart mark is pale.
Male Dimensions:

A+B = 9.52 mm
A = 5.15 mm
C = 4.33 mm
Image of External Male Genitalia:
(image not yet available)
Details About Females
Description:
Carapace greenish grey to tan. Several indistinct dark bands radiate from dorsal groove. Margins dark, submarginal bands white and extend length of carapace. Legs pale with grey, irregular, dorsal lines. Abdomen pale brown to dark reddish-brown, has series of small paired white spots. Posterior of abdomen with indistinct transverse bands. Heart mark is pale.
Female Dimensions:

A+B = 16.63 mm
A = 7.38 mm
C = 6.3 mm
Image of Epigynum:
(image not yet available)
Descriptions Source:
Dondale, C. D. & J. H. Redner. 1990. The insects and arachnids of Canada, Part 17. The wolf spiders, nurseryweb spiders, and lynx spiders of Canada and Alaska, Araneae: Lycosidae, Pisauridae, and Oxyopidae. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Publ. 1856: 1-383.
Synonyms and Chresonyms†
| Dolomedes triton Walckenaer 1837 |
| Lycosa triton Walckenaer 1837 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Hentz 1845 |
| Dolomedes scapularis C. L. Koch 1847 |
| Potamia triton Simon 1864 |
| Dolomedes scapularis Keyserling 1877 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Emerton 1885 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus McCook 1890 |
| Dolomedes major Banks 1898 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Emerton 1902 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Montgomery 1903 |
| Thaumasia triton F. O. P.-Cambridge 1903 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Montgomery 1904 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Emerton 1909 |
| Dolomedes triton Petrunkevitch 1910 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Comstock 1912 |
| Dolomedes albiclavius Bishop 1924 |
| Dolomedes triton Bishop 1924 |
| Dolomedes triton sexpunctatus Bishop 1924 |
| Dolomedes triton Petrunkevitch 1929 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Comstock 1940 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Muma 1943 |
| Dolomedes scopularis Chamberlin & Ivie 1946 |
| Dolomedes sexpunctatus Chamberlin & Ivie 1946 |
| Dolomedes spatulatus Chamberlin & Ivie 1946 |
| Dolomedes triton Chamberlin & Ivie 1946 |
| Dolomedes triton sexpunctatus Kaston 1948 |
| Dolomedes triton Carico & Holt 1964 |
| Dolomedes triton Carico 1973 |
| Dolomedes triton scapularis Crawford 1988 |
| Dolomedes triton Sierwald 1989 |
| Dolomedes triton Dondale & Redner 1990 |
| Dolomedes triton Breene et al. 1993 |
| Dolomedes triton Paquin & Dupérré 2003 |
Taxonomic References†
Banks, N. 1898. Arachnida from Baja California and other parts of Mexico. Proc. Californ. Acad. Sci. (3) 1: 205-308.
Bishop, S. C. 1924. A revision of the Pisauridae of the United States. New York St. Mus. Bull. 252: 1-140.
Breene, R. G., D. A. Dean, M. Nyffeler & G. B. Edwards. 1993. Biology, Predation Ecology, and Significance of Spiders in Texas Cotton Ecosystems with a Key to Species. Texas Agriculture Experiment Station, College Station, 115 pp.
Cambridge, F. O. P.-. 1903. On some new species of spiders belonging to the families Pisauridae and Senoculidae; with characters of a new genus. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1903(1): 151-168.
Carico, J. E. 1973. The Nearctic species of the genus Dolomedes (Araneae: Pisauridae). Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv. 144: 435-488.
Carico, J. E. & P. C. Holt. 1964. A comparative study of the female copulatory apparatus of certain species in the spider genus Dolomedes (Pisauridae: Araneae). Tech. Bull. agric. Exp. Stat. Blacksburg Virg. 172: 1-27.
Chamberlin, R. V. & W. Ivie. 1946. On several new American spiders. Bull. Univ. Utah 36(13): 1-15.
Comstock, J. H. 1940. The spider book, revised and edited by W. J. Gertsch. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, xi + 727 pp.
Comstock, J. H. 1912. The spider book; a manual for the study of the spiders and their near relatives, the scorpions, pseudoscorpions, whipscorpions, harvestmen and other members of the class Arachnida, found in America north of Mexico, with analytical keys for their classification and popular accounts of their habits. Garden City, New York, pp. 1-721
Crawford, R. L. 1988. An annotated checklist of the spiders of Washington. Burke Mus. Contrib. Anthrop. nat. Hist. 5: 1-48.
Dondale, C. D. & J. H. Redner. 1990. The insects and arachnids of Canada, Part 17. The wolf spiders, nurseryweb spiders, and lynx spiders of Canada and Alaska, Araneae: Lycosidae, Pisauridae, and Oxyopidae. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Publ. 1856: 1-383.
Emerton, J. H. 1909. Supplement to the New England Spiders. Trans. Connect. Acad. Arts Sci. 14: 171-236.
Emerton, J. H. 1902. The common spiders of the United States. Boston, pp. 1-225.
Emerton, J. H. 1885. New England Lycosidae. Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts Sci. 6: 481-505.
Hentz, N. M. 1845. Descriptions and figures of the araneides of the United States. Boston J. nat. Hist. 5: 189-202.
Kaston, B. J. 1948. Spiders of Connecticut. Bull. Conn. St. geol. nat. Hist. Surv. 70: 1-874.
Keyserling, E. 1877. Ueber amerikanische Spinnenarten der Unterordnung Citigradae. Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien 26: 609-708.
Koch, C. L. 1847. Die Arachniden. Nürnberg, Vierzehnter Band, pp. 89-210, Funfzehnter Band, pp. 1-136, Sechszehnter Band, pp. 1-80.
McCook, H. C. 1890. American spiders and their spinningwork. Philadelphia, 2: 1-480.
Montgomery, T. H. 1904. Descriptions of North American Araneae of the families Lycosidae and Pisauridae. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 56: 261-325.
Montgomery, T. H. 1903. Supplementary notes on spiders of the genera Lycosa, Pardosa, Pirata, and Dolomedes from the northeastern United States. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 55: 645-655.
Muma, M. H. 1943. Common spiders of Maryland. Natural History Society of Maryland, Baltimore, 179 pp.
Paquin, P. & N. Dupérré. 2003. Guide d'identification des araignées de Québec. Fabreries, Suppl. 11 1-251.
Petrunkevitch, A. 1929. The spiders of Porto Rico. Part one. Trans. Connect. Acad. Arts Sci. 30: 1-158.
Petrunkevitch, A. 1910. Some new or little known American Spiders. Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 19: 205-224.
Sierwald, P. 1989. Morphology and ontogeny of female copulatory organs in American Pisauridae, with special reference to homologous features (Arachnida: Araneae). Smithson. Contrib. Zool. 484: 1-24.
Simon, E. 1864. Histoire naturelle des araignées (aranéides). Paris, pp. 1-540.
Walckenaer, C. A. 1837. Histoire naturelle des insectes. Aptères. Paris, 1: 1-682.
†Nomenclature and taxonomic references from the World Spider Catalog accessible at http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/PISAURIDAE.html
Natural History References
Dondale, C. D. & J. H. Redner. 1990. The insects and arachnids of Canada, Part 17. The wolf spiders, nurseryweb spiders, and lynx spiders of Canada and Alaska, Araneae: Lycosidae, Pisauridae, and Oxyopidae. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Publ. 1856: 1-383.
Other Nearctic Members of Genus Dolomedes Latreille, 1804‡‡
D. albineus Hentz, 1845 ...............USA
D. fimbriatus (Clerck, 1757) ...............Palearctic
D. gertschi Carico, 1973 ...............USA
D. okefinokensis Bishop, 1924 ...............USA
D. scriptus Hentz, 1845 ...............USA, Canada
D. striatus Giebel, 1869 ...............USA, Canada
D. tenebrosus Hentz, 1844 ...............USA, Canada
D. vittatus Walckenaer, 1837 ...............USA
‡‡May also include species with Palearctic distribution
Page Reference:
Shorthouse, David P. submitted. Taxonomic and natural history description of FAM: PISAURIDAE, Dolomedes triton (Walckenaer, 1837).
In: The Nearctic Spider Database. David P. Shorthouse (editor). World Wide Web electronic publication. Direct link: http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/19669 (Accessed: 10/13/2008 6:22:17 PM).
Author Email Address: dshorthouse@eol.org
Text Last Modified: 2006-03-06T11:34:51Z