Abstract
In many regions of the world, horseshoe crab populations are sparse or difficult to study. We investigated the utility of molted shells, which may be more accessible than live animals, to provide essential data on population structure for juvenile horseshoe crabs. We collected and compared horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) molts from two representative habitats near the edge of horseshoe crabs’ known range in the U.S., Taunton Bay, Maine (2005, 2006) and Petit Bois Island, Mississippi (2008, 2009, 2011). Molts were collected and measured every 2 weeks and characterized in terms of abundance, prosomal width, and sex. The greatest number of molts was found during full moon periods, corresponding to known spawning periods and following seasonal temperature increases at both sites. Molt prosomal width ranged from 3 to 169 mm at Petit Bois Island and 19–165 mm at Taunton Bay. Molt size frequency distributions and estimated growth increments were similar between sites and to size classes known for living juvenile L. polyphemus found elsewhere. Male to female sex ratios of molts ranged from 1.0 to 2.3, similar to sex ratios measured among live juveniles elsewhere and among live subadult and adult horseshoe crabs previously measured at the study sites. Molt numbers and size distributions on Petit Bois Island following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill confirmed survival of young crabs through the oil spill period. The overall similarity in molt frequency patterns and size distributions between distinct habitat types suggest some endogenous plasticity in horseshoe crab molting and subsequent growth patterns, despite regional differences in environmental attributes. Hence, data from molted shells have potential as an alternative to live animal studies by at least providing data on timing and rate of growth under different environmental conditions. These data will be particularly beneficial in habitats where live horseshoe crab populations are difficult to study or there are few background data to support live animal studies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Arter BS (2007) Taunton Bay mudflat management: a case study in mudflat fisheries management using ecosystem-based principles. http://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/hosting/TB/07TBplan.pdf. Accessed 15 Sept 2014
Baillie J, Groombridge B (1996) 1996 IUCN red list of threatened animals. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland
Berkson J, Shuster CN Jr (1999) The horseshoe crab: the battle for a true multiple-use resource. Fisheries 24:6–10
Berkson J, Chen C, Mishra J et al (2009) A discussion of horseshoe crab management in five countries: Taiwan, India, China, United States, and Mexico. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 465–475
Boone PA (1973) Depositional systems of the Alabama, Mississippi, and western Florida coastal zone. Trans Gulf Coast Assoc Geol Soc 23:266–277
Botton ML, Loveland RE, Tiwari A (2003) Distribution, abundance, and survivorship of young-of-the-year in a commercially exploited population of horseshoe crabs Limulus polyphemus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 265:175–184
Brockmann HJ, Johnson SL (2011) A long-term study of horseshoe crabs in Florida. Estuar Coast 34:1049–1067
Brockmann HJ, Smith MD (2009) Reproductive competition and sexual selection in horseshoe crabs. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 199–221
Brown DP (2011) Tropical cyclone report: tropical storm Lee, AL132011, National Hurricane Center. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL132011_Lee.pdf. Accessed June 2014
Burton WH, Kelley FS, Franks EA (2009) Distribution of juvenile horseshoe crabs in subtidal habitats of Delaware Bay using a suction-dredge sampling device. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 285–292
Carmichael RH, Brush E (2012) Three decades of horseshoe crab rearing: a review of conditions for captive growth and survival. Rev Aquac 4:32–43
Carmichael R, Rutecki D, Valiela I (2003) Abundance and population structure of the Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus in Pleasant Bay, Cape Cod. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 246:225–239
Carmichael RH, Rutecki D, Annett B et al (2004) Position of horseshoe crabs in estuarine food webs: N and C stable isotopic study of foraging ranges and diet composition. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 299:231–253
Cartwright-Taylor L (2015) Studies of horseshoe crabs around Singapore. In: Carmichael RH, Botton M, Shin PKS, Cheung SG (eds) Changing global perspectives on horseshoe crab biology, conservation and management. Springer, Cham, pp 193–211
Cayan DR (1980) Large-scale relationships between sea surface temperature and surface air temperature. Mon Weather Rev 108:1293–1301
Chen CP, Yeh HY, Lin PF (2004) Conservation of the horseshoe crab at Kinmen, Taiwan: strategies and practices. Biodivers Conserv 13:1889–1904
Ehlinger G, Tankersley RA, Bush MB (2003) Spatial and temporal patterns of spawning and larval hatching by the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, in a microtidal coastal lagoon. Estuaries 26:631–640
Foley P (1994) Predicting extinction times from environmental stochasticity and carrying capacity. Conserv Biol 8:124–137
FTB (Friends of Taunton Bay) (1991) Inventory of the Taunton Bay region, 2nd edn. Friends of Taunton Bay, Hancock
Fulford R, Haehn RA (2012) An evaluation of Mississippi barrier islands as spawning and nesting habitat for the American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, with implications for island restoration. Gulf Caribb Res 24:51–62
Gore PJW (1996) Phases of the moon. http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~pgore/astronomy/astr101/moonphas.htm. Accessed 14 Sept 2014
Jaswal AK, Singh V, Bhambak SR (2012) Relationship between sea surface temperature and surface air temperature over Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. J Indian Geophys Union 16:41–53
King TL, Eackles MS, Spidle AP et al (2005) Regional differentiation and sex-biased dispersal among populations of the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus. Trans Am Fish Soc 134:441–465
Kreamer G, Michels S (2009) History of horseshoe crab harvest on Delaware Bay. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 299–312
Kresback KM, Tromble EM, Reid DG et al (2012) Evaluation of Baroclinic ADCIRC using a process-oriented test along a slope. Estuar Coast Model. doi:10.1061/9780784412411.00005
Levin J, Hochstein HD, Novitsky TJ (2003) Clotting cells and Limulus amebocyte lysate: an amazing analytical tool. In: Shuster CN Jr, Barlow RB, Brockman HJ (eds) The American horseshoe crab. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 310–334
Macdonald PDM, Du J (2012) Mixdist: finite mixture distribution models. R package version 0.5-4. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=mixdist. Accessed Oct 2014
Macdonald PDM, Pitcher TJ (1979) Age-groups from size-frequency data: a versatile and efficient method of analyzing distribution mixtures. J Fish Res Board Can 36:987–1001
McCloy JM, Dolan R (1973) Water-air temperature relationship along coastal North Carolina, U.S.A. Geogr Ann A 55:117–121
Mishra JK (2009) Horseshoe crabs, their eco-biological status along the Northeast coast of India and the necessity for ecological conservation. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 89–95
Moore S, Perrin S (2007) Seasonal movement and resource-use patterns of resident horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) populations in a Maine, USA estuary. Estuar Coast 30:1016–1026
Morton B, Lee CN (2011) Spatial and temporal distributions of juvenile horseshoe crabs (Arthropoda: Chelicerata) approaching extirpation along the northwestern shoreline of the New Territories of Hong Kong SAR, China. J Nat Hist 45:227–251
Novitsky TJ (2009) Biomedical applications of Limulus amebocyte lysate. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 315–326
R Core Team (2014) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. http://www.R-project.org/. Accessed Oct 2014
Rudloe A (1981) Aspects of the biology of juvenile horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus. Bull Mar Sci 3:125–133
Schaller S, Dorsey F (2011) Taunton Bay horseshoe crab tagging study: the 10 year report. Friends Taunton Bay Newsl 40:1–3
Schaller S, Thayer P, Hanson S et al (2005) Maine horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) spawning surveys, 2004. Report to Maine Department of Marine Resources, West Boothbay Harbor
Seim HE, Kjerfve B, Sneed JE (1987) Tides of Mississippi Sound and the adjacent continental shelf. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 25:143–156
Sekiguchi K (1988) Biology of horseshoe crabs. Science House, Tokyo
Sekiguchi K, Shuster CN Jr (2009) Limits on the global distribution of horseshoe crabs (Limulacea): lessons learned from two lifetimes of observations: Asia and America. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 5–22
Shin PKS, Li H, Cheung SG (2009) Horseshoe crabs in Hong Kong: current population status and human exploitation. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 347–359
Shuster Jr CN (1955) On morphometric and serological relationships within the Limulidae, with particular reference to Limulus polyphemus (L.). PhD thesis, New York University
Shuster CN Jr (1982) A pictorial review of the natural history and ecology of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, with reference to other Limulidae. In: Bonaventura J, Bonaventura C, Tesh S (eds) Physiology and biology of horseshoe crabs. Alan R. Liss, New York, pp 1–52
Shuster CN Jr, Sekiguchi K (2009) Basic habitat requirements of the extant species of horseshoe crabs (Limulacea). In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 115–127
Smith DR, Pooler PS, Swan BL et al (2002) Spatial and temporal distribution of horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) spawning in Delaware Bay: implications for monitoring. Estuaries 25:115–125
Smith DR, Millard MJ, Carmichael RH (2009) Comparative status and assessment of Limulus polyphemus with emphasis on the New England and Delaware Bay populations. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 361–381
Turner RE, Schroeder WW, Wiseman WJ Jr (1987) The role of stratification in the deoxygenation of Mobile Bay and adjacent shelf bottom waters. Estuaries 10:13–19
TWC (2014) The weather channel. http://www.weather.com/weather/today/l/USME0149:1:US (Franklin, Maine); http://www.weather.com/weather/today/l/USAL0146:1:US (Dauphin Island, AL). Accessed 26 Jun 2015
U.S. Department of Commerce (2014) National Weather Service North Atlantic hurricane tracking chart. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/#tracks_all. Accessed 14 Sept 2014
Walls EA, Berkson J, Smith SA (2002) The horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus: 200 million years of existence, 100 years of study. Rev Fish Sci 10:39–73
World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996) The IUCN red list of threatened species. Version 2014.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed 15 Oct 2014
Zaldivar-Rae J, Sapien-Silva RE, Rosales-Raya M et al (2009) American horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, in Mexico: open possibilities. In: Tanacredi JT, Botton ML, Smith DR (eds) Biology and conservation of horseshoe crabs. Springer, New York, pp 97–109
Acknowledgements
Work in Taunton Bay, Maine was funded in part by a Maine Sea Grant development award to R. Carmichael at the University of Maine Machias. Work on Petit Bois Island was funded by the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and partially supported by funding from Dr. X. Chen at Alabama A&M University. Additional support was provided by S. Carmichael, N. Jillette, K. Rehn, A. Clapp, M. Buckley and K. Rose, who provided field assistance in Maine; C. Pabody, N. Taylor, C. Kovacs, M. Gilroy who assisted at the Petit Bois Island site and provided editorial assistance; E. Hieb who edited and formatted the final manuscript; USRA scientist Dr. Mohammad Al-Hamdan who assisted with GIS and graphics; and Dr. Yong Wang at Alabama A&M University who consulted on statistical analyses. The authors thank the National Park Service for their permission to survey Petit Bois Island in the Gulf Islands National Seashore.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Estes, M.G., Carmichael, R.H., Macdonald, P.D.M., Brady, A.J., McFadyen, J. (2015). Molts Reveal Life-History Patterns for Juvenile American Horseshoe Crabs in Fringe Habitats. In: Carmichael, R., Botton, M., Shin, P., Cheung, S. (eds) Changing Global Perspectives on Horseshoe Crab Biology, Conservation and Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19542-1_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19542-1_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-19541-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-19542-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)