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Photo#212889
Large fishing spider - Dolomedes vittatus - male

Large fishing spider - Dolomedes vittatus - Male
Nature Trail at Sugarlands, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Sevier County, Tennessee, USA
August 8, 2008
gathering_2008: We found this handsome big guy on a rock near the stream. We're not sure which species.

Moved
Moved from Fishing Spiders.

Dolomedes vittatus
This appears to be Dolomedes vittatus. Distinguishing these guys from Dolomedes scriptus males can be rather tricky at times, so here's a couple physical characteristics that I use to tell the two apart:

1.) Generally, the abdomenal markings of adult male D. scriptus have a more "sculptured" appearance, whereas D. vittatus have less-pronounced markings.
2.) The two dark-colored spots in the middle of the cephalothorax are almost always more robust in D. vittatus than the more narrow ones found on D. scriptus.

Here's some images from the Guide that might help clarify some of this:

Dolomedes vittatus


Dolomedes scriptus


Hope that helped a little...

 
Thanks, Brett
We'll move it. And we added your comments to the Info pages for both species.

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