''Desis marina'', the intertidal spider, is a spider species found in
New Zealand,
New Caledonia
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, and the
Chatham Islands.
It was first described by
James Hector in 1878.
[Hector, J. 1878. Note on a marine spider. ''Transactions of the New Zealand Institute'', 10:300.]
Taxonomy
Previously, specimens of ''Desis marina'' had been misidentified as ''Dandrigea dysderoides'' in 1849. In 1877, it was described for the first time as ''Argyroneta marina''.
It was independently described again in 1879 as ''Desis robsoni''. In 1880,
Octavius Pickard-Cambridge transferred ''A. marina'' to the ''Robsonia'' genus. In 1895, ''Robsonia marina'' was transferred to the ''Desis'' genus as ''Desis marinus''. However, ''Desis'' is feminine, so the name was corrected to ''Desis marina''. ''D. marina'' was redescribed in 1970 and 1990.
Description
''Desis marina'' is long, with a brown carapace and a light grey abdomen. Its chelicerae are proportionally large. This species is notable for its complex branched tracheal systems and its adaptations to a marine environment.
Distribution and habitat
''Desis marina'' can be found in New Zealand (Including the Chatham Islands) and New Caledonia. This species is found in rocky shore intertidal zones. It builds silk retreats in seashells, tubeworm burrows, and
bull kelp Bull kelp is a common name for the brown alga '' Nereocystis luetkeana'' which is a true kelp in the family Laminariaceae.
Species in the genus '' Durvillaea'' are also sometimes called "bull kelp", but this is just a shortening of the common name ...
holdfasts,
which it seals shut after entering.
[Vink, C., McQuillan, B., Simpson, A., & Correa-Garhwal, S. (2017). The marine spider, ''Desis marina'' (Araneae: Desidae): new observations and localities. ''The Weta, 51'', 71-79. Retrieved from http://publications.ento.org.nz/index.php/weta/article/view/167] In these environments, the spiders and their silk retreats are regularly submerged in sea water.
[Forster, R., Forster, L. 1999. ''Spiders of New Zealand and their World-wide Kin''. University of Otago Press, New Zealand.] ''D. marina'' is nocturnal.
Diet
This species is known to emerge and feed during low tide, eating amphipods, marine isopods and other small invertebrates.
Physiology
When in their silk retreats, ''Desis marina'' may be submerged for up to 19 days. To aid in surviving this long underwater, ''D. marina'' has a lower respiration rate than other spiders of similar size, which enables it to survive on the small amount of air in its retreat.
Life history
''Desis marina'' reproduce yearly. Eggs are laid in the females retreat from September to January, with a
recruitment
Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the processes involved in choosing individual ...
period between March and April. All spiders are hatched by May. Egg development takes roughly two months and juveniles remain in the females retreat for another two months (The time required for the first two
instars to develop).
It takes juveniles roughly 4-5 months of reach maturity.
Females can potentially live for up to two years, so may be able to reproduce a second clutch of eggs.
References
External links
Itis report
Desidae
Spiders of New Zealand
Spiders described in 1878
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