Predation by Three Species of Spiders on a cave Fish in a Mexican Sulphur Cave

Joachim Horstkotte, Rüdiger Riesch, Martin Plath, Peter Jäger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Previously, giant water bugs (Belostoma sp., Belostomatidae) were thought to be the only predators of the cave-dwelling fish Poecilia mexicana (Poeciliidae) in a southern Mexican sulphur cave (Cueva del Azufre). Here, we report on three species of Araneae [Ctenidae gen. sp., Tinus sp. (Pisauridae), and Hemirrhagus pernix (Theraphosidae)] from that cave, which also prey on P. mexicana. To our knowledge, this is the first report of spider predation on a cave fish.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)55-58
Number of pages4
JournalBulletin of the British arachnological Society
Volume15
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2010

Keywords

  • Pisauridae
  • Poecilia mexicana
  • cave fish
  • Mexico
  • Belostoma
  • Hemirrhagus pernix
  • Theraphosidae

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