Coupling Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs (Limulus polyphemus) at Green Key

Smaller male Atlantic horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) behind clasps onto his mate with specialized gripper claws as she wanders the beach at Green Key, Pasco County, Florida in search of a spawning site. She'll lay multitudes of eggs and he'll fertilize them. Horseshoe crabs eggs provide a vital source of nutrition for many shorebirds and other creatures inhabiting the shore and shallow waters. Horseshoe crab blood is harvested and refined for medical purposes because it possesses the quality of clotting in the presence of bacterial endotoxins. Anyone who has ever had pretty much any routine medical procedure (including any sort of injection) owe a debt of gratitude to the horseshoe crab. Spawning events (occurring between April and June depending on location) have been much diminished in the past few decades and shorebirds which rely on the eggs as sustenance for spring migrations - like the rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufus) - have been severely impacted by the decline in horseshoe crab spawning events. Audio track is a selection from “Miroirs - Une barque sur l'océan” (A Ship on the Ocean) composed by Maurice Ravel as performed by Luis Sarro and obtained from Musopen.org.

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