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Full Description
The American horseshoe crab that comes ashore on the East Coast in vast numbers to mate and nest is much the same creature that haunted the coast before the time of the dinosaurs. It is among the world's most intensely studied marine invertebrates, critical to our understanding of many groups of organisms, both modern and extinct, and crucial to the ecology of large estuaries such as the Delaware Bay. Some stocks of this great survivor, whose ancestors made it through the mass extinction some 286 million years ago, have been severely depleted today because of overfishing and habitat destruction.
Carl N. Shuster, Jr., H. Jane Brockmann, and Robert B. Barlow are at the forefront of research on Limulus polyphemus, and in this book they bring together twenty scientists who have worked on all aspects of horseshoe crab biology to compile the first fully detailed, comprehensive view of the species. An indispensable resource, the volume describes the horseshoe crab's behavior, natural history, and ecology; its anatomy, physiology, distribution, development, and life cycle; the puzzle of its immune system; and its present management and future conservation.
Contents
Preface Prologue Robert B. Barlow 1. Synchronies in Migration: Shorebirds, Horseshoe Crabs, and Delaware Bay Mark L. Botton and Brian A. Harrington, with Nellie Tsipoura and David Mizrahi Research Note 1.1 Physiological Ecology of Shorebirds during Migration through the Delaware Bay Area Research Note 1.2 The Importance of Weather Systems and Energy Reserves to Migrating Semipalmated Sandpipers 2. Nesting Behavior: A Shoreline Phenomenon H. Jane Brockmann Exhibit 2.1 Questions about Behavior Exhibit 2.2 Decision Making in Animals Exhibit 2.3 Studying Behavioral Adaptations 3. Male Competition and Satellite Behavior H. Jane Brockmann Exhibit 3.1 Language and Explanation in Behavior Exhibit 3.2 The Process of Fertilization Exhibit 3.3 Paternity Analysis in Horseshoe Crabs 4. Seeing at Night and Finding Mates: The Role of Vision Robert B. Barlow and Maureen K. Powers 5. Growing Up Takes about Ten Years and Eighteen Stages Carl N. Shuster, Jr., and Koichi Sekiguchi Exhibit 5.1 Paths Taken: How the Authors Got Started 6. Horseshoe Crabs in a Food Web: Who Eats Whom? Mark L. Botton and Carl N. Shuster, Jr., with John A. Keinath Research Note 6.1 Predation of Horseshoe Crabs by Loggerhead Sea Turtles 7. A History of Skeletal Structure: Clues to Relationships among Species Carl N. Shuster, Jr., and Lyall I. Anderson Exhibit 7.1 Horseshoe Crab Look-Alikes Exhibit 7.2 What Are Horseshoe Crabs? 8. Throughout Geologic Time: Where Have They Lived? Lyall I. Anderson and Carl N. Shuster, Jr. 9. Coping with Environmental Changes: Physiological Challenges David W. Towle and Raymond P. Henry Exhibit 9.1 Cell Volume Regulation or Blood Ion Regulation? Exhibit 9.2 Epithelial Cell Structure and Function Exhibit 9.3 Hemocyanin, the Oxygen-Carrying Protein Exhibit 9.4 Glossary of Terms 10. Diseases and Symbionts: Vulnerability Despite Tough Shells Louis Leibovitz and Gregory A. Lewbart Exhibit 10.1 Dr. Louis Leibovitz Exhibit 10.2 How to Study a Disease Exhibit 10.3 Pathological and Biological Terminology Exhibit 10.4 A Key to the Identification of Diseases of Limulus Exhibit 10.5 Maintaining Limulus in Captivity 11. A Blue Blood: The Circulatory System Carl N. Shuster, Jr. 12. Internal Defense against Pathogenic Invasion: The Immune System Peter B. Armstrong Exhibit 12.1 Glossary 13. Clotting Cells and Limulus Amebocyte Lysate: An Amazing Analytical Tool Jack Levin, H. Donald Hochstein, and Thomas J. Novitsky 14. King Crab Fertilizer: A Once-Thriving Delaware Bay Industry Carl N. Shuster, Jr. 15. Horseshoe Crab Conservation: A Coast-Wide Management Plan Carl N. Shuster, Jr., Mark L. Botton, and Robert E. Loveland Authors and Contributors References Acknowledgments Index
