Review on biology, distribution and conservation challenges for horseshoe crabs in India
2021
Salwa Shahimi | Pati, Siddhartha | Rajesh, Apratim Sai | Dash, Bisnu Prasad | Pramanik, Ayaskanta | Sarkar, Tanmay | Tudu, Sanatan | Martin, Melissa Beata | Nelson, Bryan Raveen | Satyanarayana, Behara
Although horseshoe crabs have ecological and biomedical value, their restricted distribution in the northeast coast (Odisha, West Bengal) to a limited number of researchers have made them an understudied arthropod in India. With an objective that uses ‘desktop review’ for horseshoe crab ecology, biology and their life cycle in India, it is learnt that actions to conserve T. gigas and C. rotundicauda are still in implementing stages. In Asia, Tachypleus gigas and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda are present in sandy and muddy intertidal zones, which are termed nursery and feeding grounds in West Bengal, India. Broad tolerance to temperature (19-41°C) and salinity (2-36‰) variations indicate a nonpaused horseshoe crab presence and reproduction for West Bengal. Horseshoe crabs are not harvested for human consumption in India but, industrial demands for embryonic perivitelline (growth enhancer and stimulus for stem cell differentiation) and novel therapeutic applications (from anti-microbial and anti-carcinogenic proteins) are present in small scales. Although horseshoe crabs are safeguarded by the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the definitions are limited to T. gigas. Therefore, the output of this study contributes data for IUCN Red List assessments because fisheries records have revealed novel horseshoe crab distribution sites, incidences of by-catch, poor by-catch management and also coastal interventions that risk horseshoe crab nursery grounds in India into a deletion.
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