Desis (spider)


Desis is a genus of intertidal spiders that was first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1837. Species of the genus are found in Australasia, the Pacific, Japan, eastern and southern Africa, and India. They are marine spiders, living in the intertidal zone and only emerging at the ebb tide to hunt for invertebrates including shrimp. When submerged during high tides, they stay in an air chamber sealed with silk, and breathe its air.

Species

, this genus includes fifteen species:Desis bobmarleyi Baehr, Raven & Harms, 2017Australia Desis crosslandi Pocock, 1903Tanzania, Madagascar, Comoros, MayotteDesis formidabilisNamibia, South AfricaDesis galapagoensis Hirst, 1925 – GalapagosDesis gardineri Pocock, 1904 – India Desis inermis Gravely, 1927 – IndiaDesis japonica Yaginuma, 1956JapanDesis jiaxiangi Lin, Li & Chen, 2020ChinaDesis kenyonae Pocock, 1902 – Australia Desis marinaNew Caledonia, New Zealand Desis martensi L. Koch, 1872 – Singapore, Indonesia Desis maxillosaNew Guinea, New Caledonia Desis risbeci Berland, 1931 – New CaledoniaDesis tangana Roewer, 1955 – East AfricaDesis vorax L. Koch, 1872 – Samoa