{"id":14651,"date":"2014-04-29T09:28:43","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T14:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=14651"},"modified":"2014-04-29T09:28:43","modified_gmt":"2014-04-29T14:28:43","slug":"juvenile-blue-bloods-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=14651","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile &#8220;Blue Bloods&#8221; Emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-pair-103-960.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14663\" title=\"post jhc pair 103 480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-pair-103-480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-pair-103-480.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-pair-103-480-300x255.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Sue Wieber Nourse Examines Two Juvenile Horseshoe Crabs<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Juvenile horseshoe crabs rocked Outer Cape salt marsh creeks during the April 28th flood tide. \u00c2\u00a0Turtle Journal celebrates the emergence of these true &#8220;blue bloods&#8221; each spring. \u00c2\u00a0We have been checking for their awakening since late March, but this year&#8217;s cold spring temperatures have prolonged their winter slumber. \u00c2\u00a0(See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=12667\" target=\"_blank\">Salt Marsh Awakening: Juvenile Horseshoe Crabs Active on Outer Cape<\/a>, April 18th, 2013 and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=9959\" target=\"_blank\">Mid-March Emergence of Juvenile Horseshoe Crabs<\/a>, March 19th, 2012.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-pair-001-960.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14661\" title=\"post jhc pair 001 480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-pair-001-480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"842\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-pair-001-480.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-pair-001-480-171x300.jpg 171w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Two Juvenile Horseshoe Crabs (Limulus polyphemus)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Admittedly, the horseshoe crabs we discovered this morning were a bit sluggish in today&#8217;s chilly water temperatures, under cloudy skies and with a stiff northeast ocean breeze. \u00c2\u00a0Today&#8217;s specimens ranged in weight from a little over 1\/2 ounce (17 grams) to 4 1\/3 ounces (122 grams). \u00c2\u00a0The horseshoe crab&#8217;s exoskeleton (shell) does not expand. \u00c2\u00a0To grow, horseshoe crabs molt, as many as five times in the first year, three in the second, two in the third, and once a year thereafter until maturity is achieved. \u00c2\u00a0It takes sixteen and seventeen molts respectively over a period of nine to eleven years for a male and female horseshoe crab to reach maturity.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-001-960.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14653\" title=\"post jhc 2014 001 480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-001-480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"327\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-001-480.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-001-480-300x204.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Tiny 1\/2 Ounce Juvenile Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-014-960.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14655\" title=\"post jhc 2014 014 480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-014-480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"443\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-014-480.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-014-480-300x276.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Ventral View of Juvenile Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-measuring-002-844.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14659\" title=\"post jhc 2014 measuring 002 480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-measuring-002-480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"792\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-measuring-002-480.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-measuring-002-480-181x300.jpg 181w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Measuring Tiny Juvenile Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The tiniest horseshoe crab measured less than 2 1\/4 inches (~ 6 centimeters) long (minus its tail\/telson). \u00c2\u00a0As you may know, horseshoe crabs are the true &#8220;blue bloods&#8221; of the animal kingdom with blood composed of copper rather than iron. \u00c2\u00a0This limulus blood yields a unique and powerful gram-negative bacterial detector that saves human lives. \u00c2\u00a0Horseshoe crabs have also been extremely valuable in the research of vision with both compound and simple eyes, as well as facilitating many other scientific and medical breakthroughs.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-ljhc-2014-000-960.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14667\" title=\"post ljhc 2014 000 480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-ljhc-2014-000-480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"329\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-ljhc-2014-000-480.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-ljhc-2014-000-480-300x205.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Larger (4 1\/3 Ounce) Juvenile Horseshoe Crab<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-ljhc-2014-005-960-122-grams.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14669\" title=\"post ljhc 2014 005 480 122 grams\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-ljhc-2014-005-480-122-grams.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-ljhc-2014-005-480-122-grams.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-ljhc-2014-005-480-122-grams-300x215.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Ventral View of 4 1\/3 Ounce Juvenile Horseshoe Crab<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The largest juvenile horseshoe crab we encountered this morning measured about three times the length of the smallest and hit the scales at 4 1\/3 ounces. \u00c2\u00a0The ventral (bottom) view of this juvenile horseshoe crab clearly shows the five walking legs on each side, the forward feeding pincers (Chelicerae), and the rear book gills.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The telson (tail spine) is pointed directly at the camera.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-018-960.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14657\" title=\"post jhc 2014 018 480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-018-480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-018-480.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/post-jhc-2014-018-480-300x255.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Juvenile Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Juvenile horseshoe crabs are delightful to watch as they plow through the sandy bottom of creek channels. \u00c2\u00a0As adults, horseshoe crabs are Nature&#8217;s auto-tillers, constantly refreshing coastal tidal and inter-tidal flats. \u00c2\u00a0Appearing as ancient as the earliest trilobites, horseshoe crabs stir awe in the Turtle Journal team. \u00c2\u00a0Sadly, humans have harvested these valuable critters to the edge of extinction, extirpating them from one estuary after another, impoverishing our entire tidal and inter-tidal eco-systems, and driving shorebirds that survive epic migrations on nourishing horseshoe crab eggs to the brink, as well. \u00c2\u00a0So, it is especially joyful each spring to find juvenile horseshoe crabs as we continue to hope for sanity to prevail among state and federal wildlife managers of this important foundational marine species.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sue Wieber Nourse Examines Two Juvenile Horseshoe Crabs Juvenile horseshoe crabs rocked Outer Cape salt marsh creeks during the April 28th flood tide. \u00c2\u00a0Turtle Journal celebrates the emergence of these true &#8220;blue bloods&#8221; each spring. \u00c2\u00a0We have been checking for their awakening since late March, but this year&#8217;s cold spring temperatures have prolonged their winter [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[402,827,824],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14651"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14651"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14713,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14651\/revisions\/14713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}