Limulus in the Limelight a Species 350 Million Years in the Making and in Peril? Limulus in the Limelight a Species 350 Million Years in the Making and in Peril?

Limulus in the Limelight A Species 350 Million Years in the Making and in Peril? Limulus in the Limelight A Species 350 Million Years in the Making and in Peril?

Edited by

John T. Tanacredi National Park Service Brooklyn, New York

Introduction by

Sylvia A. Earle and Conclusion by

Niles Eldredge

KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS NEW YORK, BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW eBook ISBN: 0-306-47590-1 Print ISBN: 0-306-46681-3

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Created in the United States of America

Visit Kluwer Online at: http://kluweronline.com and Kluwer's eBookstore at: http://ebooks.kluweronline.com This book is dedicated to John Loret, Ph.D., scientist, teacher, seaman, explorer, educator and dear friend. Foreword

MARC KOENINGS General Superintendent, National Park Service, Gateway National Recreation Area

The type and scope of cooperators responsible for this publication is indicative of the effort we as environmental stewards must take to protect the fascinating horseshoe crab. The National Park Service is redoubling its efforts to “preserve and protect” our Nations’ natural resource base, especially if history is to be our guide and we take a lesson from the Carrier Pigeon, California Condor and Right Whales; The Explorers Club whose conservation message is borne out through scientific studies at every corner of the globe, through the wonder and excitement generated by exploring our world, (to see children looking at horseshoe crabs along the shoreline and you’ll know what I mean); to The Science Museum of Long Island whose logo “It’s All About the Children” brings home to all of us the critical message of “conservation begins with education” and beginning as early as possible to learn about “life and the universe” will be the critical factor in shaping our future conservation ethic; to the VIMS Horseshoe Crab Museum and Repository where the scientific minds can connect to the “computer mind” and search for those scientific gaps we need to fill in about our knowledge of this keystone species; and, lastly those conservation organizations which are on the “frontline” unencumbered with the bureaucratic rumblings that sometimes can cloud a critical issue into an inactive state – it’s the groups such as New York City Audubon, the American Littoral Society with grassroots concern and monitoring of horseshoe crabs which prompted the National Park Service at Gateway National Recreation Area into action over five-years ago to set up mini- conferences to investigate the horseshoe crab population problems, to the educational and societal groups like AREAC (Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center) at the CUNY Brooklyn College Campus or MACUB (Metropolitan Area College and University Biologists) who vii viii Foreword shared our concerns and helped co-sponsor a mini-conference at the NYZS Wildlife Conservation Societies’ Aquarium for Wildlife Conservation (part of the Coastal America program). The conservation community makes significant efforts each year to protect threatened and endangered species against the onslaught of a burgeoning global population, excessive resource consumption and a myriad of pollutants. To be anthropocentric for a moment, when a species that has dramatic impact on human lives (i.e. research on vision and bacterial contamination) this alone should prompt us to make extraordinary efforts to protect and preserve this species for future generations. Having worked in the coastal zone for over 30 years I believe what is proposed here for the protection of Lumulus goes beyond the idea of its continued existence, (which frankly could be enough to justify protection status). It goes to our philosophy about earth’s natural resources and life in general. Common sense alone should dictate our maximum efforts to prevent this organism from going over the brink into extinction. I applaud the presentations in this book and I will recommit our resources toward preserving these incredible creatures into the new Millennium. Acknowledgments

Special thanks go to Dr. John Loret, Director, The Science Museum of Long Island, and Kevin Buckley (retired) past General Superintendent, Gateway NRA for their support of the three mini-conferences resulting in this book. For providing external review of the first drafts of this work – P.A. Buckley, Betty Borowsky, Robert Cook, Chris Boyko, Mark Matsil, Raul Cardenas, Mike Soukup, Chikashi Sato, George Frame, Martin Schreibman - my sincerest thank you goes out to your contributions and efforts. A special thank you for our U.S. Park Police Marine Unit, Gateway NRA and SCUBA divers for providing video work done in Jamaica Bay – Chris Pappas, Tom Pellinger, Grant Arthur, Paul Dorogoff and the Division of Natural Resource Fisheries Biologist, Christine Kurtzke. Photographs were provided by Don Riepe, Christine Kurtzke, Carl Shuster and myself. A special thank you for the manuscript preparation to Joanie Crane, whose patience is only surpassed by her professionalism and perseverance in getting this book to completion. A thank you to MACUB – Metropolitan Area College and University biologists, AREAC – Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center, Brooklyn College, CUNY, NYC Audubon, American Littoral Society, New York Aquarium for supporting the three mini-conferences culminating in this publication. Please be reminded that all errors of content or omission are mine alone. Finally to Joanna Lawrence at Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers for her guidance, foresight and professional leadership in getting this book to its completion. It could not have been done without her. John T. Tanacredi, Ph.D. Editor ix

Contents

Introduction: Limulus in the Limelight 1 Sylvia A. Earle

PART I: LOCAL SPECIES WITH GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS

1. Horseshoe Crabs Imperiled? The Fate of a Species 350 Million Years In the Making 7 John T. Tanacredi

PART II: BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION

2. Two Perspectives: Horseshoe Crabs During 420 Million Years Worldwide, and the Past 150 Years in Delaware Bay 17 Carl N. Shuster Jr.

3. The Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs: What Can We Learn From The Japanese Experience? 41 Mark L. Botton

4. A Unique Medical Product, LAL from the Horseshoe Crab and Monitoring the Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Population 53 Benji Lynn Swan

PART III: BEHAVIOR AND DIVERSITY STUDIES

5. Tracks and Trails 65 Carl N. Shuster, Jr. xv xvi Contents

6. Biomedical Products from the Horseshoe Crab: Lessons for Sound Resource Management and Conservation 79 Thomas J. Novitsky

7. Issues and Approaches in the Regulation of the Horseshoe Crab Fishery 85 Josh Eagle

8. The Life History of Horseshoe Crabs 93 Robert E. Loveland

9. Horseshoe Crab Management and Resource Monitoring in New Jersey, 1993-1998 103 Peter J. Himchak and Sherry L. Hartley

PART IV: PRESENT DAY INVESTIGATIONS

10. Horseshoe Crab Surveys Using Underwater Videography 119 Christine Kurtzke

11. Horseshoe Crabs: An Ancient Wonder of New York and a Great Topic for Environmental Education 131 Don Riepe

12. Living on Limulus 135 David Grant

13. An Estimate of Population Sizes of Two Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) Sites in Jamaica Bay 147 Diana H. Hanna

PART V: A FINAL WORD

14. Preserving a Living Fossil 157 Niles Eldredge

Contributors 163

Index 169