The only truly aquatic spider, the diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica) lives its whole life underwater - mating, laying eggs, and catching prey in a submerged web woven into vegetation beneath the surface. The secret to this lifestyle is in the filling of the web with air bubbles from the surface, collected using fine hairs on the abdomen. Acting in a similar manner to a gill, these bubbles are impressively long-lasting, extracting dissolved oxygen from the water as levels become depleted and releasing accumulated carbon dioxide. As a result, the spider need only come to the surface a remarkable single time per day to maintain its underwater lifestyle.Ref: BBC (2011) Diving bell spiders use bubble webs ‘like gills’. [link]

The only truly aquatic spider, the diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica) lives its whole life underwater - mating, laying eggs, and catching prey in a submerged web woven into vegetation beneath the surface. The secret to this lifestyle is in the filling of the web with air bubbles from the surface, collected using fine hairs on the abdomen. Acting in a similar manner to a gill, these bubbles are impressively long-lasting, extracting dissolved oxygen from the water as levels become depleted and releasing accumulated carbon dioxide. As a result, the spider need only come to the surface a remarkable single time per day to maintain its underwater lifestyle.

Ref: BBC (2011) Diving bell spiders use bubble webs ‘like gills’. [link]

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