Help with this spider needed...

[Houdini24]

We have a discussion going on as to what kind of spider this is. It was found this morning, May 1, in the bathroom of a home getting some repair work done. I do not know the actual size of the spider although the picture was taken with a cell phone. It was found in Toms River, NJ which is kind of like Central NJ area. It is very difficult to see if there is the violin/fiddle shape above the eyes so I do not know if it is a brown recluse or not. I vote no but what do I know. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Justin

[lisaayres]

At first glance one might be led to believe it is a brown recluse. But it is not, notice the hairy legs, (brown recluses are not hairy), and you are not in their range. Sorry, I don't know what it is though.

[Eric]

Justin:

Nice image of a male nursery web spider, genus Pisaurina, family Pisauridae. The "stance" of your spider is characteristic (two sets of legs directed forward, two sets directed backward) of Pisauridae. So is the fact it is on a vertical surface (wolf spiders *can* climb, but are usually seen in the horizontal plane).

Were you to get a close-up of the eyes, that would demonstrate it is not a recluse (Loxosceles spiders have only SIX eyes instead of eight, arranged in a triangle of three pairs).

Hope this helps!

Eric