7 Sea Spider Types And Examples: Facts That You Should Know!

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Sea spiders are marine arthropod animals who look like spiders but possess different kinds of characteristics. Let us discuss some types of sea spiders.

  • Ammotheidae
  • Austrodecidae
  • Callipallenidae
  • Colossendeidae
  • Nymphonidae
  • Phoxichilidiidae
  • Pycnogonidae

Ammotheidae

Ammotheidae is one of the families under the order Pantopoda having more than 297 species under it. Their bodies are small and compact, having both long legs. Both males and females have ovigerous legs (help to carry eggs) without claws and ambulatory legs (help in locomotion) with claws. 

Austrodecidae

Austrodecidae is one of the most common families of sea spiders under the order Pantopoda having almost 55 different species in them. They are very small animals about 1–2 mm in length. There are two different genres under this family such as Austrodecus and Pantopipetta.

Callipallenidae

Callipallenidae is another most common family of sea spiders. They are carnivorous, mostly feeding on aquatic small animals or absorbing nutrients from soft body species through their proboscis. 

Colossendeidae

Colossendeidae is another group of sea spiders having almost 67 different species in them. Most species of sea spiders in this group have four pairs of legs (except Decolopoda australis, D. qasimi, Dodecolopoda mawsoni, Pentacolossendeis reticulata).

Nymphonidae

Nymphonidae is another most famous family of sea spiders under the order Pantopoda, having 7 genera and 250 species in them. Most of the sea spiders under this family possess four pairs of legs (except Pentanymphon antarcticum and Sexanymphon mirabilis). They are predators that mainly prey upon hydroids.

Phoxichilidiidae

Phoxichilidiidae is a family of sea spiders under the order Pantopoda, having more than 150 species in them. It consists of three different genres in it such as- Anoplodactylus, Phoxichilidium and Phoxiphilyra.

Pycnogonidae

Pycnogonidae is one of the most common families of sea spiders consisting of three different genera such as Pentapycnon, Pycnogonum and Pycnopallene. The sea spiders of this family have a special organ called chelifores, which helps them to gather food. 

Besides the mentioned families, there are some other types of sea spiders such as Rhynchothoracidae, Pallenopsidae, Endeididae etc. But very few details are found till now about them.

Sea types types
Image Credits: Colossendeidae Sea spider by NOAA Ocean Exploration (CC BY-SA 2.0) from Wikimedia commons

Sea spider examples

Sea spiders are one of the most important marine arthropods belonging to the class Pycnogonida. Let us discuss some of the most common examples of sea spiders in detail.

  • Callipallene brevirostris
  • Colossendeis acuta
  • Colossendeis belekurovi
  • Nymphon brevirostre
  • Nymphon gracile
  • Nymphon signatum
  • Pycnogonum litorale
  • Pycnogonum stearnsi

Callipallene brevirostris

Callipallene brevirostris is one of the most common sea spider examples belonging to the family Callipallenidae. It is very small in size and has four pairs of legs on it. The species is mostly found in European regions.

Colossendeis acuta

Colossendeis acuta is another most common sea spider species mostly found in Antarctic Pacific deep seas. It belongs to the family Colossendeidae. The species is predatory in nature and shows external fertilization. The male mates are mainly involved in taking care of laid eggs or young ones. 

Colossendeis belekurovi

Colossendeis belekurovi is a sea spider species belonging to the family Colossendeidae. In 1993 Pushkin first described the species in front of the world. Most have 4 pairs of jointed legs in their body and are predatory in nature.

Nymphon brevirostre

Nymphon brevirostre is one of the most common sea spider species belonging to the family Nymphonidae. They have a slender body type measuring about 2.5-3.0 mm in length. They are predatory in nature, mostly feeding on hydroids by its chemo detection mechanism.

Nymphon gracile

Nymphon gracile is another most common sea spider species having segmented types with two simple eyes, cylindrical rostrum, six jointed palpi and four pairs of jointed legs. They are predators that mostly feed on coelenterates. This species is mostly found in sublittoral zones.

Nymphon signatum

Nymphon signatum is another most common sea spider example belonging to the family Nymphonidae. They are endemic to the South African coastal region. They are also predatory in nature, mostly feeding on hydroids. This species is also referred to as the scarlet sea spider.

Pycnogonum litorale

Pycnogonum litorale is one of the most common sea spiders belonging to the family Pycnogonidae. This species mostly feeds on cnidarians and juvenile hydroids. They are native to the northern Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel and the western Mediterranean Sea. Males are primarily involved in taking care of laid eggs and young ones.

Pycnogonum stearnsi

Pycnogonum stearnsi is another most common sea spider example Belonging to the family Pycnogonidae. The species have a segmented body measuring about 2.5 cm (1 in) in length. They do not have chelicerae or pedipalps in their body, instead use their proboscis for absorbing nutrients from their prey. They are native to the western seaboard of North America. 

Conclusion

Sea spiders are one of the most important marine arthropods including more than 1300 species who are found almost throughout the world. Here we discuss sea spider types and examples in detail. Hope our article on Sea spider types and examples will be helpful to you.

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