Striped Fishing Spider

Dolomedes scriptus · Order: Araneae · Family: Pisauridae

Also called: Dock Spider, lined nursery web spider

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Striped Fishing Spider
Photo: unknown, CC0

Female striped fishing spiders can have a legspan over 6 cm. They are found in the United States and Canada and look similar to Dolomedes tenebrosus.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Females can reach a legspan of more than 6 cm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It lives in the United States and Canada.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

It is similar in appearance to Dolomedes tenebrosus.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 42 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Wisconsin.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Striped Fishing Spider photo 3
Photo: Mark Apgar, CC BY
Striped Fishing Spider photo 4
Photo: Allison Zon, CC BY
Striped Fishing Spider photo 5
Photo: unknown, CC0
Striped Fishing Spider photo 6
Photo: stephen, CC BY

Same family (Pisauridae)

Dark Fishing SpiderDark Fishing SpiderDolomedes tenebrosusCan biteEuropean Nursery Web spiderEuropean Nursery Web spiderPisaura mirabilisAmerican Nursery Web SpiderAmerican Nursery Web SpiderPisaurina miraSix-spotted Fishing SpiderSix-spotted Fishing SpiderDolomedes tritonWhite-banded Fishing SpiderWhite-banded Fishing SpiderDolomedes albineusNew Zealand Nursery Web SpiderNew Zealand Nursery Web SpiderDolomedes minor

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomedes_scriptus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.