I’ve had so many people tell me about this new spider, Dolomedes briangreenei, and the news makes it sound like a surprise that it can dive under water and eat small aquatic vertebrates.
Spiders have been known to do all kinds of amazing things, and there’s nothing surprising about any of that. We have several species of Dolomedes right here in Minnesota, and they’re semi-aquatic and kill and eat tadpoles and small fish all the time. The Australian Academy of Science has announced the discovery of 51 new species of spiders just this past year! I’m relatively new to this taxonomy stuff, and one thing I know is that finding new species is routine, as is discovering that species have gone extinct.
Wait ’til they crossbreed with the molluscs!
I hate to be pedantic (well, not really) but they haven’t announced the discovery of 51 new species this year, they announced 51 new species in 2019.
A local species is this one, and yes they can hunt small fish as shown here.
https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40848
What about Argyroneta aquatica? Isn’t that one much more aquatic than any Dolomedes species?
A relative, Dolomedes fimbriatus, lives here in Finland. https://paivakirja.asentopaikka.fi/2018/05/14/rantahamahakki-kurvailee/#jp-carousel-3480