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Spider catches and eats fish in horrifying video
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In perhaps one of the most truly horrifying sights, a spider was captured eating a fish in a skin-crawling video making its rounds on social media.
The alarming footage shows a giant fishing spider seize its pretty sizeable prey with no bait, tackle or fishing rods in sight.
Now that's an impressive arachnid if I've ever seen one.
The short clip was originally uploaded to Instagram by nature photographer and tour guide Jean-Pierre Veira, and has been subsequently reposted by a page focussed on all things creepy-crawly, Snagbug.
It shows the fascinating moment when the spider managed to get its hands - or eight legs - on a very helpless fish.
Perched between two rocks in shallow water, the giant fishing spider can be seen getting ready for a proper good gorge on some seafood.
The page explains the spider is able to catch the 'aquatic food' due it being covered in 'hydrophobic hairs all round' which make the hunter able to 'stay dry throughout the ordeal'.
"Standing by the water's edge, the spiders will dangle their limbs on the surface and monitor for any ripples," the caption continues.
"Once detected, they can then leap forward at a moment's notice at the fish in front. A quick acting venom neutralises the scaly meal before they can escape."
Ouch.
The video has since clocked up over seven thousands views with dozens of comments from viewers blown away by nature's bizarre phenomenon.
One Instagram user asked: "How does she eat that big ole thang?"
Considering the fish is about the same size as the spider itself - it's fair question to raise.
"Poor fish," emphasised another, "being born and raised just to be spider food."
A third echoed: "That poor fish has one slow death."
Others, however, had more sympathy for nearby fisherpeople rather than the butchered fishy.
They wrote: "Imagine fishing at a stream for hours with no bites and then seeing this giant hauling out a bluegill."
Another simply said the content of the video was 'what are nightmares are made of'.
Well, it's definitely not the most relaxing thing to watch especially if you've got a bad case of arachnophobia.
Similar to wolf spiders, fishing spiders are native to the southeastern US and mostly most live near water, living off small fish and aquatic insects.
They can also climb beneath the water when they become encased in a silvery film of air, allowing them to hunt fish more efficiently.
