Spiders are an interesting species, they have the ability to live in multiple climates, are found everywhere around the world and apparently they even have the skills to prey on fish. This is very surprising since common arguments always have spiders preying on insects.
Spiders tend to feed on mosquitoes, roaches, flies, fleas, clothes moths, earwigs and other spiders. For some humans, this is great since along with hating spiders, they also hate roaches, flies and other invertebrates. Thus, it brings forth the enemy of my enemy is my friend lines.
But who would have thought that vertebrates could be on a spider's menu? After all, vertebrates are water creatures, and we've never heard of a spider swim before.
Based on a new research published by Plos One, dozens of spider species around the world tend to feed on fish. The idea that a spider could catch a fish is quite peculiar, since we've come to learn that spiders are predators that feed on insects. However, some spiders are well skilled in the art of fishing, as they have learned to adapt on or near the water's surface.
Up until now, only a handful of spiders are known to catch fish. However, as per Arachnologist Martin Nyffeler of the University of Basel in Switzerland, and fish ecologist Brad Pusey of the University of Western Australia, this is no longer the case.
At least 18 different spiders from 5 families are now known to prey on fish. They have been noticed to do this in the wild, along with inside a lab setting.
How do these spiders catch fish?
"The spider typically assumes a position near the water's edge, with the rear pair of legs anchored to some vegetation or wood or rock, and their three front pairs of legs out of the water's surface," Pusey told Live Science in an email.
Now, if a fish should unfortunately make its way to the water's edge, the spider will lunge forward and bite the fish near the base of its head. In addition, the spider injects deadly neurotoxins into the body of the fish before pulling it out of the water.
AS per Pusey, it can take minutes for the fish to die, so the spider tends to do the smart thing at all times, and that is pulling it out of the water quickly enough.
The report claims that the majority of fish eating spiders are found in warm areas.
