Nilus margaritatus

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White-banded Nilus fish-eating spider
Nilus margaritatus 176091508.jpg
Nilus margaritatus 177814278.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Pisauridae
Genus: Nilus
Species:
N. margaritatus
Binomial name
Nilus margaritatus
(Pocock, 1898) [1]
Synonyms [2]
  • Thalassius margaritatusPocock, 1898
  • Thalassius insulanusBerland, 1922
  • Thalassius cataractusLawrence, 1927
  • Thalassius albopunctatusCaporiacco, 1949

Nilus margaritatus is a spider species in the family Pisauridae. [2] The species is commonly known as the white-banded Nilus fish-eating spider. [3]

Contents

Distribution

Nilus margaritatus has been recorded from Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Eswatini. [3]

In South Africa, the species has been sampled from four provinces: Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga. [3]

Habitat and ecology

These are free-running ground dwellers associated with fresh waters and known to catch small fish, tadpoles, and large aquatic invertebrates including insect nymphs or larvae. [3] They can be found at fresh-water pools and have been sampled from the Grassland and Savanna biomes at altitudes ranging from 47 to 1247 m. [3]

Description

Conservation

Nilus margaritatus is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range. [3] The species is protected in more than 10 protected areas. [3] There are no significant threats to the species. [3]

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Pocock in 1898 as Thalassius margaritatus from Tanzania. [1] It was transferred to Nilus by Jäger in 2011. [4] The species was revised by Sierwald in 1987 and is known from both sexes. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 Pocock, R.I. (1898). "On the scorpions, spiders and solpugas collected by Mr. C. Steuart Betton in British East Africa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 66 (3): 497–524. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1898.tb03172.x.
  2. 1 2 "Nilus margaritatus (Pocock, 1898)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Pisauridae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 43. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7157775. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  4. ↑ Jäger, P. (2011). "Revision of the spider genera Nilus O. Pickard-Cambridge 1876, Sphedanus Thorell 1877 and Dendrolycosa Doleschall 1859 (Araneae: Pisauridae)". Zootaxa. 3046: 1–38. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3046.1.1.
  5. ↑ Sierwald, P. (1987). "Revision der Gattung Thalassius (Arachnida, Araneae, Pisauridae)". Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg. 29: 51–142.
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