Can Spiders Breathe Underwater?
WouterMost aquatic arthropods are unable to breathe underwater. However, some spiders are able to survive in the water without using their lungs.
One spider, known as the diving bell spider, uses an air bubble to breathe underwater. Its gill-like bubbles gather oxygen from the surface and deposit it in its silk air tank.
This system allows the spider to stay submerged for up to 24 hours. When the air is low in oxygen, the spider will swim above the surface to replenish its air supply. The bubble also helps the spider stay hidden from predators.
The water spider’s air-bubble system is called an aqua-lung. It is a complex system that allows the spider to replenish its air. As oxygen levels fall, nitrogen concentrations increase. Eventually, the bubble collapses.
Professor Roger Seymour, from the University of Adelaide, has studied the spider’s air-bubble. He found that the spider collects surface air with 78 percent nitrogen. During this process, a tiny fiber-optic oxygen sensor measures the oxygen concentration in the water surrounding the bubble. Using this technique, Seymour found that 70% of the spider’s oxygen supply comes from diffusion through its web.
Researchers have also discovered that some aquatic arthropods can breathe underwater. These organisms include the diving bell spider, the argyroneta aquatica, or silver net spider.
To learn more about how the diving bell spider breathes, researchers analyzed the animal’s anatomy and physiology. They also tested tiny sensors that measured oxygen levels in the water.
