Limulus polyphemus, Horseshoe crab : fisheries
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Limulus polyphemus   (Linnaeus, 1758)

Horseshoe crab

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Limulus polyphemus  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Limulus polyphemus (Horseshoe crab)
Limulus polyphemus
Picture by Harvey-Clark, Chris

Classification / Noms Noms communs | Synonymes | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Merostomata | Xiphosura | Limulidae

Environnement : milieu / zone climatique / profondeur / gamme de distribution Écologie

Benthic; profondeur 3 - 290 m (Réf. 137822).  Tropical, preferred 24°C (Réf. 107945); 44°N - 18°N, 93°W - 66°W

Distribution Territories | Zones FAO | Écosystèmes | Occurrences | Introductions

Western Atlantic: Known from the Gulf of Maine to Florida, USA and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to the Yucatan Peninsula, but absent from the western and southern Gulf of Mexico (from Texas, USA to Tabasco, Mexico). Introduced in Northeast Atlantic.

Longueur à la première maturité / Taille / Poids / Âge

Maturité: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 60.0 cm TL mâle / non sexé; (Réf. 82); poids max. publié: 1.8 kg (Réf. 82); âge max. reporté: 20 années (Réf. 99652)

Biologie     Glossaire (ex. épibenthique)

The males are approximately 1/3 the size of the females (sexual dimorphism) (Ref. 83). Minimum depth based from Ref. 76. Lives in shallow waters, with sandy or muddy bottoms (Ref. 76). Found in intertidal and offshore areas (Ref. 1131). The horseshoe crab feeds at night on polychaete worms such as Cerebratulus, Nereis, and Cistenides (Ref. 76, 77), small mollusks, and seaweed (algae) found in the sandy ocean bottom (Ref. 76). Food is picked up by the chelicerae and passed back to the bristle bases, where it is "chewed." The food is then moved forward to the mouth (Ref. 75). It digs its food from sediments, grasping the prey with its legs. The prey is moved to the gnathobases where it is crushed before being pushed forward toward the mouth (Ref. 77). A life span of about 20 to 40 years (Ref. 78). Its predators are loggerhead turtles, pufferfish, leopard sharks and sea gulls (Ref. 82).

Cycle de vie et comportement reproducteur Maturité | Reproduction | Frai | Œufs | Fécondité | Larves

They reproduce with the use of the first pair of the six, flap-like appendages on the underside of the abdomen acts as a cover for the genital pore. The egg or sperm are released through this pore during spawning (Ref. 75). These eggs are fertilized by sperm released by an attached male and by one or more satellite males that typically congregate around the nesting pair (Ref. 81). While nesting, females bury themselves in the sediment near the water's edge and lay a series of discrete egg clusters, each containing 2,000-20,000 eggs (Ref. 80).

Référence principale Références | Coordinateur | Collaborateurs

Lee, C.N. and B. Morton 2005 Experimentally derived estimates of growth by juvenile Tachypleus tridentatus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda (Xiphosura) from nursery beaches in Hongkong. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 318:39-49. (Réf. 1131)

Statut dans la liste rouge de l'IUCN (Réf. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Vulnérable (VU) (A3bd); Date assessed: 17 February 2016

statut CITES (Réf. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Réf. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Menace pour l'homme

  Harmless

Utilisations par l'homme

Pêcheries: commercial
FAO - pêcheries: landings search; Publication: search | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Outils

Plus d'informations

Écologie trophique
Aliments (proies)
Composition du régime alimentaire
Consommation alimentaire
Prédateurs
Écologie
Dynamique des populations
Croissance
Âges / tailles maximales
Longueur-poids rel.
Rel. longueur-longueur.
Fréquences de longueurs
Conversion de masse
Abondance
Cycle de vie
Reproduction
Maturité
Fécondité
Frai
Œufs
Développement de l'œuf
Larves
Physiologie
Consommation d'oxygène
Liées à l'homme
Timbres, pièces de monnaie, divers
Sensibilisation
Taxonomie
Références

Sources Internet

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO - pêcheries: landings search; Publication: search | Fishipedia | GenBank (génôme, nucléotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Arbre de Vie | Wikipedia (aller à, chercher) | Zoological Record

Estimations basées sur des modèles

Vulnérabilité de la pêche
(Réf. 71543)
High to very high vulnerability (66 of 100).
Vulnérabilité climatique
(Réf. 125649)
High to very high vulnerability (75 of 100)
Catégorie de prix
(Réf. 80766):
Low.
Nutrients
Calcium = 126 [75, 177] mg/100g; Iron = 4.79 [1.67, 7.92] mg/100g; Protein = 16.6 [15.4, 17.8] %; Omega3 = 0.331 [0.263, 0.400] g/100g; Selenium = 57.8 [48.5, 67.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 0 μg/100g; Zinc = 1.97 [0.92, 3.02] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.