''Desis'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
intertidal spiders that was first described by
Charles Athanase Walckenaer
Baron Charles Athanase Walckenaer (25 December 1771 – 28 April 1852) was a French civil servant, writer, man of letters, and scientist. He was a polymath and wrote extensively on geography, natural history, and literature. Major contributio ...
in 1837.
Species of the genus are found in Australasia, the Pacific, Japan, eastern and southern Africa, and India. They are marine spiders, living in the
intertidal zone
The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...
and only emerging at the
ebb tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide ...
to hunt for invertebrates including shrimp. When submerged during high tides, they stay in an air chamber sealed with silk,
and breathe its air.
Species
it contains fourteen species:
*''
Desis bobmarleyi
''Desis bobmarleyi'' is an underwater spider species found in the shores of north eastern Queensland, Australia. It is known to build air chambers from silk. ''D. bobmarleyi'' is named in honour of the Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley. As an ...
''
Baehr, Raven
A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...
& Harms, 2017 – Australia (Queensland)
*''
Desis crosslandi''
Pocock, 1903 – Tanzania (Zanzibar), Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte
*''
Desis formidabilis''
( O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1891) – Namibia, South Africa
*''
Desis galapagoensis''
Hirst, 1925 – Ecuador (Galapagos Is.)
*''
Desis gardineri''
Pocock, 1904 – India (Laccadive Is.)
*''
Desis inermis''
Gravely, 1927 – India
*''
Desis japonica''
Yaginuma, 1956 – Japan
*''
Desis jiaxiangi''
Lin, Li & Chen, 2020 – China
*''
Desis kenyonae''
Pocock, 1902 – Australia (Victoria, Tasmania)
*''
Desis marina''
(Hector, 1877) – New Caledonia, New Zealand (mainland, Chatham Is.)
*''
Desis martensi''
L. Koch, 1872 – Malaysia
*''
Desis maxillosa''
(Fabricius, 1793) (
type
Type may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc.
* Data type, collection of values used for computations.
* File type
* TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file.
* ...
) – New Guinea, New Caledonia
*''
Desis risbeci''
Berland Berland is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*André Berland (1940–2025), French historian and biographer
*Bjørn Berland (born 1977), Norwegian footballer
*Eliezer Berland (born 1937), Israeli Breslov rabbi
*François Berléan ...
, 1931 – New Caledonia
*''
Desis tangana''
Roewer, 1955 – East Africa
*''
Desis vorax''
L. Koch, 1872 – Samoa
References
Desidae genera
Spiders of Africa
Spiders of Asia
Spiders of Australia
Taxa named by Charles Athanase Walckenaer
{{Desidae-stub