Abstract
Ontogenetic changes in dietary carbon sources and trophic position of two co-occurring horseshoe crab species in southwestern China
Highlights
The 3 Asian horseshoe crab species Tachypleus tridentatus, T. gigas, and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda once thrived on the coasts of the South and East China Seas, but have severely declined due to loss of coastal habitats and high harvesting levels for Tachypleus amoebocyte lysate and for human consumption (Chen et al 2015 and references therein).Aquat Biol 26: 15–26, 2017There is concern that these renowned ‘living fossil’ populations may be decimated if no effective actions are taken to protect them
The growth curves of T. tridentatus and C. rotundicauda indicated that, at the same instar stage, T. tridentatus was larger than C. rotundicauda (Table 1, Fig. 2)
Our results reveal that at the basal level, seagrassderived (Z. japonica) carbon made the greatest contribution to the diet of the 2 horseshoe crab species, T. tridentatus and C. rotundicauda
Summary
The 3 Asian horseshoe crab species Tachypleus tridentatus, T. gigas, and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda once thrived on the coasts of the South and East China Seas, but have severely declined due to loss of coastal habitats and high harvesting levels for Tachypleus amoebocyte lysate and for human consumption (Chen et al 2015 and references therein).Aquat Biol 26: 15–26, 2017There is concern that these renowned ‘living fossil’ populations may be decimated if no effective actions are taken to protect them The 3 Asian horseshoe crab species Tachypleus tridentatus, T. gigas, and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda once thrived on the coasts of the South and East China Seas, but have severely declined due to loss of coastal habitats and high harvesting levels for Tachypleus amoebocyte lysate and for human consumption (Chen et al 2015 and references therein). There is concern that these renowned ‘living fossil’ populations may be decimated if no effective actions are taken to protect them International conservation strategies have urged studies that strengthen the cause for legal protection of these species’ critical habitats, including defining and characterizing their nursery, foraging and spawning sites (IUCN 2012)
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