The biological genus is limulidae – commonly known as horseshoe crab – which is arguably the ugliest living creature on the planet.
But their resistance to all kinds of biological threat is legendary, and their survival since pre-historic times is a puzzle to scientists.
For several months a year in New England, they breed along our shores. At this time of the year, you can spot them in abundance, such as this video along the shore near Old Greenwich Yacht Club will attest.
There is an active tagging program being monitored locally by Sacred Heart Univ., under a federal endangered species initiative. At the last full moon, we assisted in the tagging of 39 additional crabs at Shell Island with http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/13692_project_limulus.cfm
Individual crabs tagged in Brooklyn have walked the bottom of Long Island Sound all the way to Rhode Island, and the tagging project proves that the entire LIS population is unified.
They do not copulate, but up to five males latch onto the female and follow her to the mid-tide point where she deposits tens of thousands of her eggs in the sand. The males then fertilize the egg masses. As the tide recedes, the males are left exposed, where they enjoy a rest before walking off to their next assignation.
Comment by Michael Finkbeiner — June 21st, 2010 @ 10:12 pm