亚马逊巨人食鸟蛛(Theraphosa blondi),又名哥利亚巨人食鸟蛛。是蛛型纲内公认的最大体型的蜘蛛,具体内容可见吉尼斯世界记录(金氏记录):
Largest Spider
The world's largest known spider was a male goliath bird-eating spider (Theraphosa blondi), which was collected by members of the Pablo San Martin Expedition at Rio Cavro, Venezuela, in April 1965. It had a record leg-span of 28 cm (11 in) – sufficient to cover a dinner plate. This species is found in the coastal rainforests of Surinam, Guyana and French Guiana, but isolated specimens have also been reported from Venezuela and Brazil.
大意:帕布罗-圣-马丁探险队于1965年4月在委内瑞拉的里奥-卡维罗捕捉到的一只足展28cm(11英寸)的雄性歌利亚巨人食鸟蛛。
按照惯例,在生物的英文名中带有“goliath”一词的品种,都是该群体内体型屈指可数的巨人,该名词源自《圣经》中的著名巨人歌利亚。因此Theraphosa blondi 也不例外,其巨大体型可以轻易捕食小型脊椎动物(如鸟类、蜥蜴、老鼠等)。当然,制服猎物不仅需要巨大的体型(虽然这几乎是必须的),同时也需要凶猛的性情(这是发起攻击的先决条件)以及较高的毒性。在这方面,Theraphosa blondi 都具备,在欧洲也有饲养者不小心被Theraphosa blondi 咬中面门而死亡的事情发生。
Theraphosa blondi 成体足展约23-25cm,身长10-12cm,最大记录足展28cm,身长13.5cm。