Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Biology and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs pp 5–24Cite as

Limits on the Global Distribution of Horseshoe Crabs (Limulacea): Lessons Learned from Two Lifetimes of Observations: Asia and America

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

This paper is based on the premise that understanding the natural history and ecology of the horseshoe crabs (Limulacea) is paramount to conservation of the species. Our objective has been to select those large-scale, global parameters that help to define the opportunities for, and the limits on, their distribution. Essentially, we have selected the big-picture type of conditions pertinent to considerations of the conservation of the species. This has led to an examination of potential biotic and environmental parameters. Of these we have selected eight, four in each category. The biotic aspects are: who they are (taxonomically), whether they are living fossils, what they are (ecologically), and the significance of discrete populations in conservation of the species. Four large-scale environmental parameters that limit their global distribution are geologic (estuarine environments, continental shelves as avenues of distribution, ocean deeps as deterrents), temperature which sets boundaries, tidal types that define predominant potential spawning sites, and the influence of benthic currents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson LI, Shuster CN Jr (2003) Throughout geologic time: where have they lived? In: Shuster CN Jr, Barlow RB, Brockman HJ (eds) The American Horseshoe Crab. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 189–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkson J, Shuster, CN Jr (1999) The horseshoe crab: the battle for a true multiple–use resource. Fisheries 24(11):6–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Botton ML (1984a) Diet and food preference of the adult horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus in Delaware Bay, New Jersey, USA. Mar Biol 81:199–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Botton ML (1984b) The importance of predation by horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, to an intertidal sand flat community. J Mar Res 42:139–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Botton ML, Shuster CN Jr (2003) Horseshoe crabs in a food web: who eats whom? In: Shuster CN Jr, Barlow RB, Brockmann HJ (eds) The American Horseshoe Crab. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 133–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady JT, Schrading E (1983) Habitat sustainability index models: horseshoe crab (spawning) Delaware Bay, New Jersey and Delaware (developed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, Pennsylvania – Cape May Villas and Reeds Beach Habitat Evaluation Procedures)

    Google Scholar 

  • deSylva DP, Kalber FA Jr, Shuster CN Jr (1962) Fishes and Ecological Conditions in the Shore Zone of the Delaware River Estuary, with Notes on Other Species Collected in Deeper Water. University of Delaware Marine Laboratories, Newark, DE, Information Series Publication 5, pp 1–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Doty MS (1957) Rocky intertidal surfaces. In: Hedgpeth JW (ed) Treatise on Marine Ecology and Paleoecology. Vol 1: Ecology. Geological Society of America Memoir 67(1), pp 535–585

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehlinger GS, Tankersley RA (2003) Larval hatching in the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, facilitation by environmental clues. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 292:199–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehlinger GS, 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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehlinger GS, Tankersley RA (2005) Survival and development of horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) embryos and larvae in hypersaline conditions. Biol Bull 206:87–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eldredge N (1991) Fossils: The Evolution and Extinction of Species. Harry V. Abrams, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbs CL, Hubbs C (1953) An improved graphical analysis and comparison of a series of examples. System Zool 2:49–56, 92

    Google Scholar 

  • Iwasaki Y, Iwami T, Sekiguchi K (1988) Karyology. In Sekiguchi K (ed) Biology of Horseshoe Crabs, Science House, Inc., Tokyo, pp 309–314

    Google Scholar 

  • Jegla TC, Costlow JD (1982) Temperature and salinity effects on developmental and early posthatch stages of Limulus. In: Bonaventura J, Bonaventura C, Tesh S (eds) Physiology and Biology of Horseshoe Crabs. Alan R. Liss, New York, pp 103–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Keinath J (2003) Predation of horseshoe crabs by loggerhead sea turtles. In Shuster CN Jr, Barlow RB, Brockmann HJ (eds) The American Horseshoe Crab. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 152–153

    Google Scholar 

  • King TL, Eackles MS, Spidle AP, Brockmann HJ (2003) Regional differentiation and sex-biased dispersal among populations of the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus. Trans Am Fish Soc 134:441–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraeuter JN, Fegley SR (1994) Vertical disturbance of sediments by horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) during their spawning season. Estuaries 17:288–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loveland RE, Botton ML, Shuster CN Jr (1997) Life history of the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus L.) in Delaware Bay and it importance in a commercial resource. In: Farrell J, Martin C (eds) Proceedings of the Horseshoe Crab Forum: Status of the Resource. University of Delaware Sea Grant Program, Lewes, DE, publ DEL-SG-05-97, pp 15–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer AG (1914) The effects of temperature upon tropical marine animals. Pap Tortugas Lab, Carnegie Inst Publ 183(6): 1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierce JC, Tan C, Gaffney PM (2000) Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay populations of the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus are genetically distinct. Estuaries 23:690–698

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parr AF (1933) A geographic-ecological analysis of the seasonal changes in temperature in shallow water along the coast of the United States. Bull Bingham Oceanogr Coll 4(3):1–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeside JB Jr., Harris DV (1952) A Cretaceous horseshoe crab from Colorado. J Washington Acad Sci 41:174–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds WW, Casterlin ME (1979) Thermoregulatory behavior and diel activity of Limulus polyphemus. In: Cohen E, Bang FB, Levin J, Marchalonis JJ, Pistole TG, Predergast RA, Shuster C, Watson SW (eds) Biomedical Applications of the Horseshoe Crab (Limulidae). Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York, pp 47–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Riska B (1981) Morphological variation in the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus (L.). Evolution 35:647–658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudkin DM, Young GA, Nowlan GS (2008) The oldest horseshoe crab: a new xiphosurid from Late Ordovician Konservat-Lagerstatten deposits. Palaeontology 51:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudloe AE, Heernkind WF (1976) Orientation of Limulus polyphemus in the vicinity of breeding beaches. Mar Behav Physiol 4:75–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders NC, Kessler LG, Avise JC (1986) Genetic variation and geographic differentiation in mitochondrial DNA of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. Genetics 112:613–627

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sekiguchi K (1988) Biology of Horseshoe Crabs. Science House, Tokyo, pp 1–428

    Google Scholar 

  • Sekiguchi K, Nakamura K (1979) Ecology of the extant horseshoe crabs. In: Cohen E (ed) Biomedical Applications of the Horseshoe Crab (Limulidae). Alan R. Liss, New York, pp 37–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Sekiguchi K (1988a) Biogeography. In: Sekiguchi K (ed) Biology of Horseshoe Crabs. Science House, Tokyo, pp 22–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Sekiguchi K (1988b) Ecology. In: Sekiguchi K (ed) Biology of Horseshoe Crabs. Science House, Tokyo, pp 50–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Selander RK, Yang SY, Lewontin RC, Johnson WS (1970) Genetic variation in the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), a phylogenetic “relic.” Evolution 24:402–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shishikura F, Nakamura S, Takahashi K, Sekiguchi K (1982) Horseshoe crab phylogeny based on amino acid sequences of the fibrino-peptide-like peptide C. J Exp Zool 223:89–91

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shuster CN Jr (1955) On Morphometric and Serological Relationships within the Limulidae, with Particular Reference to Limulus polyphemus (L.). PhD thesis, New York University, New York (1958 Diss Abstr 18, pp 371–372)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuster CN Jr (1958) Biological evaluation of the Delaware River estuary. In: Kaplovsky AJ, Simpson C (eds) State of Delaware Water Resources Survey. William N. Cann, Wilmington, DE, pp 1–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuster CN Jr (1979) Distribution of the American horseshoe “crab,” Limulus polyphemus (L.). In: Cohen E (eds) Biomedical Applications of the Horseshoe Crab (Limulidae). Alan R. Liss, New York, pp 3–26

    Google Scholar 

  • 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

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuster CN Jr (2001) Two perspectives: horseshoe crabs during 420 million years, worldwide, and the past 150 years in the Delaware Bay area. In: Tanacredi JT (ed) Limulus in the Limelight. Kluwer Academic/ Plenum, New York, pp 17–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuster CN Jr, Anderson LI (2003) A history of skeletal structure: clues to relationships among species. In: Shuster CN Jr, Barlow RB, Brockman HJ (eds) The American Horseshoe Crab. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 154–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokoloff A (1978) Observations on populations of the horseshoe crab Limulus (=Xiphosura) polyphemus. Res Popul Ecol 19:222–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spraker H, Austin HM (1997) Diel feeding periodicity of Atlantic silverside, Menidia menidia, in the York River, Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. J Elisha Mitchell Sci Soc 113:171–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Swan BL (2005) Migrations of adult horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, in the middle Atlantic bight: a 17-year tagging study. Estuaries 28:28–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Towle DW, Henry RP (2003) Coping with environmental changes: physiological challenges. In: Shuster CN Jr, Barlow RB, Brockmann HJ (eds) The American Horseshoe Crab. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 223–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamasaki T (1988) Taxonomy of horseshoe crabs, In: Sekiguchi K (ed) Biology of Horseshoe Crabs. Science House, Tokyo, pp 419–421

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamasaki T, Makioka T, Saito J (1988) External morphology. In: Sekiguchi K (ed) Biology of Horseshoe Crabs. Science House, Tokyo, pp 89–104

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tsukuba, Ushigasane, Kisai-machi, 347-0103, Saitama-ken, Japan

    Koichi Sekiguchi

  2. Virginia Institute/School of Marine Science, The College of William & Mary, Gloucester Point, 3733 25th Street North, Arlington, VA, 22207-5011, USA

    Carl N. Shuster Jr.

Authors
  1. Koichi Sekiguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carl N. Shuster Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carl N. Shuster Jr. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Earth & Marine Sciences, Dowling College, Long Island, 11769-1999, USA

    John T. Tanacredi

  2. Dept. Natural Sciences, Fordham University, West 60th St. 113, New York, 10023, U.S.A.

    Mark L. Botton

  3. Leetown Science Center, Aquatic Ecology Lab., US Geological Survey, Leetown Rd. 11649, Kearneysville, 25430, U.S.A.

    David Smith

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sekiguchi, K., Shuster, C.N. (2009). Limits on the Global Distribution of Horseshoe Crabs (Limulacea): Lessons Learned from Two Lifetimes of Observations: Asia and America. In: Tanacredi, J., Botton, M., Smith, D. (eds) Biology and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89959-6_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation