The largest of the New Zealand species Dolomedes schauinslandi or Rangatira spider occurs in the Chatham Islands, where it occurs on rodent-free islands where running water is rare.
There are at least four spiders in the genus Dolomedes (the fishing spiders), species which have adapted to hunt on the surface of water.
The species has also been described under the name Aranea viridata by Müller and as Dolomedes riparius by Hahn.