{"id":9959,"date":"2012-03-19T07:27:07","date_gmt":"2012-03-19T12:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=9959"},"modified":"2012-03-24T10:08:40","modified_gmt":"2012-03-24T15:08:40","slug":"mid-march-emergence-of-juvenile-horseshoe-crabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=9959","title":{"rendered":"Mid-March Emergence of Juvenile Horseshoe Crabs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"001<\/a><\/p>\n

Juvenile Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

March madness means something entirely different to the Turtle Journal team.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, it’s a culmination of a long winter of preparation.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, we must keep our eyes on the ball.\u00c2\u00a0 And, yes; there’s an awful lot of bouncing around.\u00c2\u00a0 Not on basketball courts, mind you.\u00c2\u00a0 But at every natural habitat from wetlands to ocean.\u00c2\u00a0 This glorious afternoon, with full sunshine, gentle southerly breeze and mid-50s temperature, Turtle Journal ventured to the rich salt marshes of South Wellfleet to check on the emergence of juvenile horseshoe crabs; another important signpost on the road to spring.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Capture of Juvenile Horseshoe Crab<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We examined the shallow marsh channels off Blackfish Creek where we usually find the emergence of the first juvenile horseshoe crabs of the year.\u00c2\u00a0 We had been here a week ago with no sign of activity; not even tiny fish swimming in the channels and playing hide & seek among the marsh reeds.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, today we found several tracks of juvenile horseshoe crabs in the oozy bottom.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, almost impossible to see through the murk, a blurry\u00c2\u00a0mud trail\u00c2\u00a0betrayed the camouflaged presence of a juvenile specimen, and Don Lewis swept into action with his sampling net.<\/p>\n

\"006<\/a><\/p>\n

Massing Juvenile Horseshoe Crab<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This youngster tipped the scales at 26 grams with tail (telson) pointed skyward like an exclamation point!\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"002<\/a><\/p>\n

Examination of Juvenile Horseshoe Crab<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The anterior carapace (prosoma) measured 6.1 centimeters maximum width and 4.2 centimeter long.\u00c2\u00a0 The posterior (abdominal region or opisthosoma) measured 3.1 centimeters length\u00c2\u00a0from hindge to notch and 4.2 centimeters wide.\u00c2\u00a0 The spiny tail (telson) measured 4.8 centimeters.<\/p>\n

\"003<\/a><\/p>\n

Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Compound Eye<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Don especially delighted in the clear view of the critter’s compound eyes as illustrated in the photograph above.<\/p>\n

\"004<\/a><\/p>\n

Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Ventral View<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This ventral view reinforces the impression that folks have that horseshoe crabs, whether juveniles or adults, are an ancient creature; a living fossil.\u00c2\u00a0 When they molt, and horseshoe crabs like lobsters must molt frequently to grow, the shell splits at the leading ventral edge of the anterior carapace (prosoma), so that the animal can wiggle to freedom, then create and harden\u00c2\u00a0a new, larger shell.\u00c2\u00a0 When you find horseshoe crab shells along the beach, check for this slit to determine whether you have discovered an abandoned shell of a\u00c2\u00a0freshly molted individual.<\/p>\n

\"005<\/a><\/p>\n

Rusty Colored Substance on Book Gills<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On today’s specimen, we notice a rusty coloration on and immediately behind the book gills.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Release of Juvenile Horseshoe Crab<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While finding the first juvenile horseshoe crab of the year is a cherished experience in\u00c2\u00a0our rite of spring, it is only exceeded by the joy of releasing that specimen back into the wild once it has yielded a little scientific data.\u00c2\u00a0 Today’s juvenile slid as gracefully as a horseshoe crab can into the marsh channel and floated down to the bottom.\u00c2\u00a0 After a minute or so of orientation, it wobbled forward to find the perfect spot under the marsh rim\u00c2\u00a0to burrow down for some peace and quiet.\u00c2\u00a0 Humans are, after all, strange critters\u00c2\u00a0that can be taken only in small doses.<\/p>\n

\"007<\/a><\/p>\n

Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Ventral View<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Turtle Journal confesses to finding horseshoe crabs irresistible.\u00c2\u00a0 During mating season, which should commence in another month or so, our wading boots get “checked out” by amorous males that get fooled by the enticing dark color and lovely rounded edges.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re facinated by\u00c2\u00a0intricate artistic designs carved on beaches by females and males locked in embrace after depositing eggs at high tide.\u00c2\u00a0 And there’s nothing so noble, yet comical as a juvenile horseshoe crab that\u00c2\u00a0stomps across your palm marching\u00c2\u00a0towards freedom.\u00c2\u00a0 Just for the record,\u00c2\u00a0these living fossils\u00c2\u00a0are darn good for the tidal ecosystem where they’re constantly tilling and aerating soil with ten walking legs and two feeding pincers.\u00c2\u00a0 Horseshoe crabs eggs provide the most nutrious food for migrating shorebirds, and their blue blood presents a modern medical and scientific miracle for disease detection, for thwarting bioterrorism and even for facilitating planetary exploration probes.\u00c2\u00a0 No wonder Turtle Journal delights in marking each spring with the arrival of the next generation of horseshoe crabs!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juvenile Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) March madness means something entirely different to the Turtle Journal team.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, it’s a culmination of a long winter of preparation.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, we must keep our eyes on the ball.\u00c2\u00a0 And, yes; there’s an awful lot of bouncing around.\u00c2\u00a0 Not on basketball courts, mind you.\u00c2\u00a0 But at every natural habitat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[402,824,826],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9959"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9959"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9996,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9959\/revisions\/9996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}