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Reproductive Competition and Sexual Selection in Horseshoe Crabs

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Biology and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs

Abstract

The four species of horseshoe crabs share many similarities but differ in the intensity of reproductive competition. Although all horseshoe crabs nest synchronously, only Limulus polyphemus, the American horseshoe crab, has intense male–male competition (high operational sex ratios and multi-male groups around nesting pairs) and very high female nesting densities. These differences in reproductive competition are reflected in differences between American and Asian species (Tachypleus gigas, T. tridentatus, or Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) in their reproductive structures and in egg and sperm size. However, the American and Asian species do not differ in the degree of sexual dimorphism in body size. The intensity of reproductive competition is correlated with nesting density in L. polyphemus, but this is not the case in the Asian species, which rarely have multi-male groups or highly male-biased operational sex ratios.

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Acknowledgments

The research described in this chapter was supported by the National Science Foundation, Sigma Xi Grants-In-Aid of Research, the University of Delaware, College of Marine Sciences, the University of Florida Foundation, the Department of Zoology, and the Seahorse Key Marine Laboratory. The research in Florida was conducted under special use permits from the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge. The Delaware research was conducted with permission from the Cape Henlopen State Park.

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-8525, USA

    H. Jane Brockmann & Matthew Denman Smith

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  1. H. Jane Brockmann
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Correspondence to H. Jane Brockmann .

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  1. Dept. Earth & Marine Sciences, Dowling College, Long Island, 11769-1999, USA

    John T. Tanacredi

  2. Dept. Natural Sciences, Fordham University, West 60th St. 113, New York, 10023, U.S.A.

    Mark L. Botton

  3. Leetown Science Center, Aquatic Ecology Lab., US Geological Survey, Leetown Rd. 11649, Kearneysville, 25430, U.S.A.

    David Smith

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Brockmann, H.J., Smith, M.D. (2009). Reproductive Competition and Sexual Selection in Horseshoe Crabs. In: Tanacredi, J., Botton, M., Smith, D. (eds) Biology and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89959-6_12

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