Courtney, UR- Mysteries of the Horseshoe Crab

The east coast of the United States is home to one of four species of horseshoe crabs found in the world, the Atlantic Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus). My attempt to find as much research about information on how water parameters might impact horseshoe populations came up empty. In fact there is very little information on horseshoe crabs in general such as how long they live, are they like sea turtles and return to the beach of their birth, why do their spawning cycles revolve around the moon and where do they go 10 months out of the year when they're not spawning? So many unanswered questions that biologists and researchers have yet to answered and this article, Horseshoe Crabs Remain Mysteries to Biologists, touches on this information a little bit. In this article it also touches on how in Maine they tag horseshoe crabs with plastic tags for later identification.
Also I did read somewhere that they can tolerate many different levels of salinity which is one of the important factors that have kept them around for more than 500 million years!



mass spawning on the beach

 

There are so many possibilities for an independent research project due to the little know information about horseshoe crabs! Right now because my internship, from what I understand, will involve collecting data that FWC can use in further research and conservation. I am interested in collecting information about what beaches in the Indian River Lagoon do horseshoe crabs prefer and what environmental conditions on these beaches make them so ideal for the horseshoe crab spawning? Once I talk with Annie this week I will have more of an idea of exactly how I want to do my IRP. I feel that there is so much I can do with this and I am really excited to begin my research, the more I read the more fascinating I find these extremely important marine animals!