Horseshoe Crabs: “Living Fossils” Imperiled in the Anthropocene

Mark L. Botton; B. Akbar John; Ruth H. Carmichael; Faridah Mohamad; Punyasloke Bhadury; Jaime Zaldivar-Rae; Paul K.S. Shin; John T. Tanacredi; C. G. Cheung

doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00103-3

Horseshoe Crabs: “Living Fossils” Imperiled in the Anthropocene

Mark L. Botton, B. Akbar John, Ruth H. Carmichael, Faridah Mohamad, Punyasloke Bhadury, Jaime Zaldivar-Rae, Paul K.S. Shin, John T. Tanacredi, C. G. Cheung

Department of Chemistry

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 12 - Chapter in an edited book (Author) › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The four species of horseshoe crabs are true “living fossils” with an evolutionary history that pre-dates the dinosaurs. One species, Limulus polyphemus, is found along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of North America. Three other species, the tri-spine horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus; coastal horseshoe crab, Tachypleus gigas; and mangrove horseshoe crab, Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, live in shallow-water coastal and estuarine environments in Asia from Japan to India. Horseshoe crabs are valuable for human health because their blood is used to test for the presence of bacterial contamination in vaccines and other biomedical products. Today, all four horseshoe crab species are imperiled by overharvesting, shoreline development, and the loss and degradation of their essential spawning and nursery habitats. Despite these challenges, we remain optimistic that efforts to enhance conservation, including increased fishery management practices, marine protected areas, scientific research, public awareness, and citizen science engagement may together curtail further damage to their populations and enable recovery of these irreplaceable animals. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Imperiled
Subtitle of host publication	The Encyclopedia of Conservation
Editors	Dominick A. DellaSala, Michael I. Goldstein
Publisher	Elsevier
Pages	715-726
Volume	2
ISBN (Electronic)	9780128218471
ISBN (Print)	9780128211397 (Volume 1-3)
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00103-3
Publication status	Published - 2022

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

Research Keywords

Beach
Carcinoscorpius
Fisheries
Habitat loss
LAL
Limulus
Mangrove
Tachypleus

Access Output

10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00103-3

Other Access Options

Check CityUHK Library

Permanent Link

Right click to copy link

Cite this

Botton, M. L., John, B. A., Carmichael, R. H., Mohamad, F., Bhadury, P., Zaldivar-Rae, J., Shin, P. K. S., Tanacredi, J. T., & Cheung, C. G. (2022). Horseshoe Crabs: “Living Fossils” Imperiled in the Anthropocene. In D. A. DellaSala, & M. I. Goldstein (Eds.), Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation (Vol. 2, pp. 715-726). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00103-3

@inbook{f5db85c40284420dabd12be7b6130385,

title = "Horseshoe Crabs: “Living Fossils” Imperiled in the Anthropocene",

abstract = "The four species of horseshoe crabs are true “living fossils” with an evolutionary history that pre-dates the dinosaurs. One species, Limulus polyphemus, is found along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of North America. Three other species, the tri-spine horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus; coastal horseshoe crab, Tachypleus gigas; and mangrove horseshoe crab, Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, live in shallow-water coastal and estuarine environments in Asia from Japan to India. Horseshoe crabs are valuable for human health because their blood is used to test for the presence of bacterial contamination in vaccines and other biomedical products. Today, all four horseshoe crab species are imperiled by overharvesting, shoreline development, and the loss and degradation of their essential spawning and nursery habitats. Despite these challenges, we remain optimistic that efforts to enhance conservation, including increased fishery management practices, marine protected areas, scientific research, public awareness, and citizen science engagement may together curtail further damage to their populations and enable recovery of these irreplaceable animals. {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved",

keywords = "Beach, Carcinoscorpius, Fisheries, Habitat loss, LAL, Limulus, Mangrove, Tachypleus",

author = "Botton, {Mark L.} and John, {B. Akbar} and Carmichael, {Ruth H.} and Faridah Mohamad and Punyasloke Bhadury and Jaime Zaldivar-Rae and Shin, {Paul K.S.} and Tanacredi, {John T.} and Cheung, {C. G.}",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00103-3",

language = "English",

isbn = "9780128211397 (Volume 1-3)",

volume = "2",

pages = "715--726",

editor = "DellaSala, {Dominick A.} and Goldstein, {Michael I.}",

booktitle = "Imperiled",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

Horseshoe Crabs: “Living Fossils” Imperiled in the Anthropocene. / Botton, Mark L.; John, B. Akbar; Carmichael, Ruth H. et al.
Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation. ed. / Dominick A. DellaSala; Michael I. Goldstein. Vol. 2 Elsevier, 2022. p. 715-726.

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 12 - Chapter in an edited book (Author) › peer-review

TY - CHAP

T1 - Horseshoe Crabs

T2 - “Living Fossils” Imperiled in the Anthropocene

AU - Botton, Mark L.

AU - John, B. Akbar

AU - Carmichael, Ruth H.

AU - Mohamad, Faridah

AU - Bhadury, Punyasloke

AU - Zaldivar-Rae, Jaime

AU - Shin, Paul K.S.

AU - Tanacredi, John T.

AU - Cheung, C. G.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - The four species of horseshoe crabs are true “living fossils” with an evolutionary history that pre-dates the dinosaurs. One species, Limulus polyphemus, is found along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of North America. Three other species, the tri-spine horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus; coastal horseshoe crab, Tachypleus gigas; and mangrove horseshoe crab, Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, live in shallow-water coastal and estuarine environments in Asia from Japan to India. Horseshoe crabs are valuable for human health because their blood is used to test for the presence of bacterial contamination in vaccines and other biomedical products. Today, all four horseshoe crab species are imperiled by overharvesting, shoreline development, and the loss and degradation of their essential spawning and nursery habitats. Despite these challenges, we remain optimistic that efforts to enhance conservation, including increased fishery management practices, marine protected areas, scientific research, public awareness, and citizen science engagement may together curtail further damage to their populations and enable recovery of these irreplaceable animals. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

AB - The four species of horseshoe crabs are true “living fossils” with an evolutionary history that pre-dates the dinosaurs. One species, Limulus polyphemus, is found along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of North America. Three other species, the tri-spine horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus; coastal horseshoe crab, Tachypleus gigas; and mangrove horseshoe crab, Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, live in shallow-water coastal and estuarine environments in Asia from Japan to India. Horseshoe crabs are valuable for human health because their blood is used to test for the presence of bacterial contamination in vaccines and other biomedical products. Today, all four horseshoe crab species are imperiled by overharvesting, shoreline development, and the loss and degradation of their essential spawning and nursery habitats. Despite these challenges, we remain optimistic that efforts to enhance conservation, including increased fishery management practices, marine protected areas, scientific research, public awareness, and citizen science engagement may together curtail further damage to their populations and enable recovery of these irreplaceable animals. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

KW - Beach

KW - Carcinoscorpius

KW - Fisheries

KW - Habitat loss

KW - LAL

KW - Limulus

KW - Mangrove

KW - Tachypleus

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148818514&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85148818514&origin=recordpage

U2 - 10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00103-3

DO - 10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00103-3

M3 - RGC 12 - Chapter in an edited book (Author)

SN - 9780128211397 (Volume 1-3)

VL - 2

SP - 715

EP - 726

BT - Imperiled

A2 - DellaSala, Dominick A.

A2 - Goldstein, Michael I.

PB - Elsevier

ER -

Horseshoe Crabs: “Living Fossils” Imperiled in the Anthropocene

Abstract

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

Cite this