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