Please help me identify this spider

This spider attached himself to my jig while it was underwater. I went to grab it to adjust my trailer (plastic that attaches to the hook to add bulk) and almost grabbed this ugly fucking thing. Now, I wouldn't normally give a shit, but I had no idea spiders lived under water, so this one is intriguing. On water, near the edge? Sure. But I wasn't fishing this lure along the edge of the water at the time. Plus, I'd like to know if I should be more afraid of it that I already am because I frequent the place he was at.I've tried searching teh interwebz, but they come up empty for this particular beast. Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

Sorry, I can't identify your spider.But here is a picture of an underwater-living spider.
Above it you can see the pocket of air (contained in its web) that it uses to survive underwater. Edited by Panda, : No reason given.Edited by Panda, : No reason given.

Me neither, so I'm glad you brought it up. I had a quick look around, and you've got a lot of Dolomedes in North America. They can go under water, but are semi-aquatic, and don't actually live there. Also, I couldn't find one that looked like yours, but they vary a lot in appearance. Some can catch fish! DolomedesAs I said, I'm glad you brought it up, because I found one we have here in Britain (probably the same one that's in Panda's pic.).On this site, click description. Then click the first video, which shows it bringing air bubbles from the surface down to a "diving bell" that it makes out of silk.Neat! What will the intelligent designer think of next?BTW, that's a bloody good site. Note all the other categories as well as "description," and the fact that they include references in the description. Then you get nine photos and two videos just for one little spider. It's conservation orientated.

I can't help you identify your spider. But I just wanted to say what a delightful little thread this is!! Underwater spiders! Silk air pockets!! Spiders that catch fish!!!Nature never ceases to amaze.

I think Taz is a spider nut.

Based on color and shape I would guess it is Araneus nordmanni, which are not aquatic.It is definitely not a Cybaeidae (such as Argyroneta aquatica or Pisauridae (the nursery web spiders) which are aquatic. Neither of those families have that large round abdomen like the Areneidae (orb-weavers) do.You might post it to Welcome to BugGuide.Net! - BugGuide.Net , there are some spider specialists there that should be able to id it.

Thanks! I submitted it there to bug guide. Hopefully I get a response.I am now wondering if it isn't an aquatic spider at all and perhaps could have jumped onto my bait from the grass as it was coming from the water (I was standing maybe 12-18 inches above water level). At any rate, if it is not aquatic, he/she surely had to hop on to a moving object since I would have been reeling in relatively quickly the last few feet before shore.Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

All the more reason I hate fishing at night...... Not only do I fear that a water moccasin is going to strike my ankles from the water, but now I have to worry (yes, I worry about spiders/bugs. I am a pussy about that stuff), not only about spiders on land where they fucking belong (scratch that: Australia can have ALL the spiders, I don't want any near me lol), but ones IN the water. What is this world coming to??!?!?!!??!?!!?

ironically, i don't care much for spiders one way or the other.

Well, someone at bug guide said: Beauty truly IS in the eye of the beholder.....:abe #2:
Well hey hey hey, looks like we have a winner. The chap at Bug Guide seems to be correct!Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

Hi, Hooah.I'm an arachnologist. I wish I had seen this thread sooner, so I could have showed off. I was going to call it an araneid (orb-weaver) and suggest a couple genera, including Larinioides. Orb-weavers aren't really my strong suit, so I wasn't sure: it's good that you got someone else on it.It's weird that you found it underwater: it must have gotten knocked off a tree or something. But, it's not dangerous. It would probably hurt if it bit you, but orb-weavers aren't known for biting a lot, and it certainly wouldn't cause any medical problems.

how come the answer to "what's this spider?" is always "orb weaver"?

I wouldn't know, I've never asked the question before.

I think "orb weaver" would have been a preferred alternative: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-19420894