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Horseshoe crabs, once abundant along Odisha’s coast, are now threatened due to habitat loss and fishing practices.
Scientists are concerned about their dwindling numbers, prompting efforts to study and conserve the species.
Recent tagging studies by scientists aim to track horseshoe crabs' movements and assess their population dynamics.
Conservation strategies are being discussed to protect their habitats and ensure their survival.
Horseshoe crab
It is a marine chelicerate arthropod living in shallow coastal waters on soft sandy or muddy bottom
Spawns (release or deposit eggs) mostly on intertidal beaches at summer spring high tides.
Their hard exoskeleton resembles a horseshoe, hence the name.
It is regarded as a marine ‘living fossil’
There are four extant horseshoe crab species:
The American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) along the eastern coast of the USA and in the Gulf of Mexico.
The tri-spine horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus)
The coastal horseshoe crab (Tachypleus gigas)
The mangrove horseshoe crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda)
India is home to two species of horseshoe crabs — Tachypleus gigas and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda
Both the species are found along the northeastern coast of India, especially along the Odisha and West Bengal coast.
Odisha is their largest habitat in India.
Major threats : Destructive fishing practices, illegal smuggling of the species
The blood of horseshoe crabs is highly valuable for the medical industry, used to test the safety of injectable drugs.
Horseshoe crabs are a Schedule 2 species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
IUCN Status:
American horseshoe crab: Vulnerable.
Tri-spine horseshoe crab: Endangered.
The two other species are not listed yet.
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