Horseshoe Crab Essay

Taking about a week to fully mature into an adult and living for several months, the shrimp do have a surprisingly long life cycle being also able to reproduce up to 300 cysts every 4 days in the right conditions. Other variables such as salinity, temperature, light, pH levels, water levels and predatory presence play a large role in the hatching rate of the crustacean. The brine shrimp are an extremely versatile micro-crustacean as they can survive up to 10x salt concentration of ordinary sea water (Eol.org, 2016) and are able to protect themselves during drought or when conditions are not ideal for survival. This is called highly resistant encysted gastrula embryo (cyst) that is easily able to hatch under conditions that can be replicated at home.

Ray McClain). The ‘farmed’ and the wild crawfish are both composed of the same species, the red swamp crawfish (Procambarus clarkii) and the white river crawfish (P. zonangulus). The more popular of the two crustaceans the red swamp crawfish, as it is caught more often is purchased more at the market. There are other crustaceans that are important to the basin besides crawfish, however. Blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) are a vital resource in Louisiana’s seafood industry. The crabs are harvested by way of traps. In the case that the traps are lost or abandoned, they will continue to catch crabs. This is leading to a downturn in the blue crab population. Fish are also affected by the traps, as they are also caught. Despite the risked to the crab population, , the Marine Stewardship Council recognized the Louisiana blue crab fishery as the only sustainable blue crab fishery in the world in March of

Crabs spawn near the mouth of the Bay in Virginia water, therefore few sponge crabs (female crabs carrying eggs) are seen in Maryland (“Chesapeake Wildlife”). Juvenile crabs migrate northward to feed and grow in the brackish creeks of the Tidewater.

The life cycle of a Blue Crab involves Zoeae, Megalops, Juveniles, and Adulthood (Zinski, 2006) (“Blue Crab Life Cycle, 2016). Mating occurs only once for female crabs. Female crabs undergo a pubertal mold which is indicative of a sexually mature state in their life cycle. During the pubertal molt females release pheromones which attract males. The actual ritual of mating does not occur until females molt their shells (Zinski, 2006). At which point females will then retreat to high salinity water to begin spawning. Spawning will occur for the first time 2-9 months after mating. Interestingly, males will protect females during the period which females have molted and it is at this point in which mating occurs (Hill, 2004).

significantly impact loggerhead nesting by making many current or potential nesting sites unviable (Ehrhart et al.).

Horseshoe crabs are an important part of the wetland ecosystem, however they are going extinct. Due to harvesting, pollution, and other animals consuming their offspring their numbers are dwindling. They play an important part in the ecosystem and need to be protected so they do not become extinct. The Delaware bay has decided to protect them for their future uses in medicine and to keep them as an important role in the ecosystem.

Distribution: There are eight subspecies of the beach mouse, including five on the Gulf Coast (Alabama beach mouse (P. p. ammobates), Perdido Key beach mouse (P. p. tryssyllepsis), Santa Rosa beach mouse (P. p. leucocephalus), Choctawatchee beach mouse (P. p. allophrys), and the St. Andrew beach mouse (P. p. peninsularis) and three on the Atlantic Coast (Pallid beach mouse (P. p. decoloratus, Anastasia Island

Three years ago, the author took a trip to Delaware. As his family was walking on the beach they came across some horseshoe crabs mating. He wondered how they have changed. The type of horseshoe crab he saw along the beach was called “limulus polyphemus”. Limulus Polyphemus is not found in the fossil records. The fossil record for horseshoe crabs is deeper than 20 million years, and the

The Purple Marsh Crab, or simply known as the Marsh Crab, is a small crab that is native to the Eastern United States. They live in the salt marshes and mud flats of brackish estuaries, and create networks of connected tunnels within the flats.

Knowing how many horseshoe crabs there are helps fisheries managers develop effective policy for managing populations. You can help by volunteering to count the crabs in May and June.

The most terrifying creature is a clown mixed with a lobster. Clowns are scary enough but a clown with six arms like a lobster is really scary. If a clown had six arms with claws it would chase you in a haunted house with six air horns, and that’s scary. This clown would be like the clown from “IT”. What if you walk into a carnival and saw a six armed lobster clown I would run away.

This lab is based off of European Green Crabs preying on Periwinkle Snails. From the name, one can tell the European Crab originated in Europe and is not native to North America. The crab ranged its expansion north of Cape Cod, where Periwinkle snails were introduced to a new predator. (McRae, 2015-pg. 1)

Studies have found information on ancestral species of current horseshoe crabs. Xiphosurids, which are very old fossils that were not easily found; however, they were compared in body structure of current time horseshoe crabs and showed that there was hardly any change in the body structure. The body plan of a xiphosurid is described as having large crescent like shield in the anterior portion of its body resembling an invertibrate with lateral compound eyes. Xiphosurids are also classified as having opisthosomal tergites built into a thoracetron and having a long styliform telson (Rudkin et al. 2008).

Green Crab: This crab has been carried all over by ships. It eats many forms of shore life, including worms and mollusks. In certain areas, due to the appetite of the crab, it has affected the commercial shellfish industry.

To understand the life cycle of a lobster it is important to understand the first five to seven years of a lobster because until this age lobsters are not at a large enough length to be taken ashore (NOAA, 2012). Little is known about the exact timeline as to how long a female lobster holds and releases the eggs that she carries (NOAA, 2012). Before the lobster egg appears on the tail of a lobster a range from nine months to slightly over a year is the time span needed for eggs to develop inside the female lobster (NOAA, 2012). Nine to twelve months later, eggs will slowly attach to the external swimmerets which are a part of the female lobster’s tail (NOAA, 2012). There is a huge timespan between having an egg and forming a baby lobster at