Abstract
Horseshoe crabs are living fossils known to occur along the north-east coasts of Indian mainland. Although they are exploited for various reasons, there was no information about their status and distribution in the recent past. In this connection, a survey of breeding habitats of horseshoe crabs along the Odisha coast and the adjoining coastal stretch of West Bengal (WB) and Andhra Pradesh (AP) was carried out during December 2005 to June 2007 to document their status and threats. Preliminary interviews and secondary data were also used to confirm their potential breeding habitat. During May–June of 2006 and 2007, daily monitoring of five sites for a fortnight and monthly surveys of the rest of the coast provided a lower bound of ~4000 individuals/season for Odisha coast. Densities were higher at beaches near river mouths, ranging from 60 to 100 individuals/km/season in northern and central Odisha coast, and 15–20 individuals/km/season in southern Odisha, while it was as low as ~10 individuals/km along WB and AP coasts. Sightings and incidental catch in experimental fishing net indicated the presence of two species of horseshoe crabs in inshore coastal waters. Fishery-related mortality was documented to be the major threat with the stranding of nearly 1000 dead horseshoe crabs/season, but depredation of by wild and feral animals such as wild boars, jackals and feral dogs was also wide spread. Conservation efforts need to address these issues and also coastal development especially at selected breeding habitats which support relatively high densities of horseshoe crabs.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to the Director, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and Ministry of Environment and Forests for encouragement and support to undertake the survey of horseshoe crabs. They are also grateful to Forest Department, Government of Odisha for permission and logistic support. The first author would like to thank the Director, Zoological Survey of India for permission for publication of the manuscript.
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Basudev, T., Sivakumar, K., Sajan, J., Satyaranjan, B., Choudhury, B.C. (2013). Assessment of the Population Status and Threats to the Horseshoe Crabs Along the Northern East Coast of India. In: Venkataraman, K., Sivaperuman, C., Raghunathan, C. (eds) Ecology and Conservation of Tropical Marine Faunal Communities. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38200-0_9
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