Lycosid spiders found in coastal waters of Japan

Abstract

Spiders can be carried out to sea by wind (ballooning on silk) or floods (on flotsam), but this is rarely observed. Here, we report on two wolf spider (Lycosidae) species, Arctosa fujiii Tanaka 1985 and Hygrolycosa umidicola Tanaka 1978, found at sea within 400 m of the coast of Tokyo Bay in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. These are two of the few examples of spiders found in coastal waters of Japan.