Spider (Arachnida: Araneae) diversity at Godrej mangroves, Vikhroli, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Among the varied aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates diversity of mangrove ecosystem, spiders are considered to be an important bioindicators of ecological health. Studies on the spider diversity in the mangroves at Vikhroli, Mumbai, Maharashtra conducted resulted in the documentation of a total of 38 spider species belonging to the 33 genera under 12 families. Salticidae was found to be the dominant with 10 species from 10 genera, followed by Araneidae (9 species and 7 genera). The survey done in three mangrove zones revealed that zone II with moderate mangrove density resulted in the highest diversity (H=0.89) of spiders. Guild structure analysis revealed six different guilds. Stalkers (Salticidae and Oxyopidae) were the predominant feeding guild (34.00%). Seasonal (pre monsoon, monsoon and post monsoon) analysis showed more species diversity in the month of June to September.