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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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Limulus polyphemus


United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: never/rarely | Ref:
Regulations: no regulations | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Native to North America (Ref. 1131). Known from Gulf coasts (Ref. 72).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Waggoner, B., 1995
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS

Merostomata > Xiphosura (Horseshoe crabs) > Limulidae ()

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; depth range 3 - 11 m (Ref. 76).   Tropical, preferred 24°C (Ref. 107945)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Western Atlantic: from Maine, USA to Mexico.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 82); max. published weight: 1.8 kg (Ref. 82); max. reported age: 20 years (Ref. 99652)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

The males are approximately 1/3 the size of the females (sexual dimorphism) (Ref. 83). 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).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

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).

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Lee, C.N. and B. Morton. 2005. (Ref. 1131)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

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

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

More information

Common names
Synonyms
Predators
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance
References
Mass conversion

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: ; publication : search) | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 12.5 - 28, mean 26.7 (based on 417 cells).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Moderate vulnerability (44 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Low.