Mosman dad shares terrifying image of large spider in sink

A Sydney man has shared a frightening picture of a creature hiding inside his sink - and an expert has revealed why it would have gone in there.

A resident in Sydney’s northern suburbs has revealed a horror find inside his sink.

The Mosman father posted a photo of the creature in the sink plug in a local community group on Facebook.

“Any thoughts on what this cute and chunky one is?” he asked underneath it.

The replies were quick to follow with one user likening the spider to Aragog from the Harry Potter franchise.

“Burn the house down,” one person said.

”It’s sell your house faster than lightning and run for the hills,” another user wrote.

“I first thought this was a car rim and thought it's probably best to move to Antarctica,” another man posted.

Some suggested it was either a huntsman, a trapdoor spider or a wolf spider.

“This is definitely a huntsman,” one person wrote.

“This is NOT a huntsman people. unusual colour but body shape of a trapdoor,” another replied.

“A trapdoor has a bigger abdomen than a huntsman, a third posted.

The picture of the spider in the sink. Picture: Facebook

After looking at the image, Australian Museum arachnologist Helen Smith said it was a Heteropoda species of huntsman that was not usually seen on the east coast of Australia.

“It is a Heteropoda species of huntsman,” she said.

“Most species are tropical or subtropical but they do get carried around in freight, by people moving house and they are also available in the pet trade.

“One species occurs naturally on the east coast but the photo does not show that species.”

Ms Smith said there were 41 species of Heteropoda in Australia.

“Most species thrive in fairly humid areas and Heteropoda jugulans seem to find a suitable microclimate in and around human habitation.

“I would suspect that this spider went into the sink seeking humidity. Heteropoda species in general are usually found in moist shady habitats.”

Huntsman spiders are large, long-legged and are mostly coloured grey to brown, sometimes with banded legs, according to the Australian Museum.

They eat other insects and invertebrates and have somewhat flattened bodies so they can live in narrow spaces, like under loose bark or rock walls.

Huntsman sometimes enter houses and are also notorious for entering cars.