Nilus rossi

Last updated

White-bum Nilus fish-eating spider
Nilus rossi 298850520 538360533.jpg
female
Nilus rossi 298850520 538360967.jpg
female
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. rossi
Binomial name
Nilus rossi
(Pocock, 1902) [1]
Synonyms [2]
  • Thalassius rossiiPocock, 1902
  • Thalassius harpagoRoewer, 1955
  • Thalassius kolosvaryiRoewer, 1955

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

Contents

Distribution

Nilus rossi has been recorded from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa. [3]

In South Africa, the species has been sampled from KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and North West. [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. They can be found at fresh-water pools and have been sampled from the Savanna biome at altitudes ranging from 7 to 1343 m. [3]

Description

Conservation

Nilus rossi is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range. The species is protected in Kruger National Park, Ndumo Game Reserve, and Legalameetse Nature Reserve. There are no significant threats to the species. [3]

Taxonomy

The species was described by Pocock in 1902 from Durban. [1] It was transferred to Nilus by Jäger in 2011, [4] revised by Sierwald in 1987 [5] and is known from both sexes. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 Pocock, R.I. (1902). "Descriptions of some new species of African Solifugae and Araneae". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 7. 10 (55): 6–27. doi:10.1080/00222930208678627.
  2. 1 2 "Nilus rossi (Pocock, 1902)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 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. 46. 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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