June 04, 1981 - Moon and Tide Spark an Ancient RitualSECOND SECTION Tbr *Ilffolh Tuneg June 4, 1981
Moon and Tide Spark an Ancient Ritual
A few weeks ago we had a time of full
moon and it cast a spell of tranquility over
the area, especially along the beaches. It
was the mystical time of quiet waters and
ancient rituals. It was the spawning time
of the horseshoe crab. I wish everyone had
had the opportunity to witness the ancient
rites of the horseshoe crab on those clear
glittering moonlight nights.
From out of the water's edge, the dark
lumbering bodies of these crabs were seen
prodding their way in shore; the large
female in front with the small male or
perhaps two attached to her back. They
moved back and forth along the shore until
some old and unknown instinct told them
this was the spot and they pressed deep in
the sand to lay their eggs; the male
fertilizing over the newly laid eggs. Theii
only purpose was to deposit their eggs and
then be gone again for another year.
The moon had created a super high tide
above the ordinary high tide mark. It is in
this area that the eggs will be warmed by
the sun and develop. The following month
the cycle of the moon swings again and the
tide once more will rise above normal.
Then these thousand to ten thousand eggs
the female laid will be fully developed and
the small crabs will break out of their
enclosure to freedom; freedom that for the
most is short lived, as only a few will ever
make it to adulthood. Nature cannot take
chances with a few and so overproduction
is a necessity in the sea world. They crawl
and swim and make their way to the sea.
Predators of all kinds attack; fish, crabs
and even birds swoop up the helpless as
they scurry about unprotected.
Once free the small horseshoe crab feeds
on a maze of microscopic organisms that
are found in our rich bays and creeks. It
grows fast and because of its growing it
must shed its shell. Its skeleton, hard on
the outside, cannot expand and therefore
like most anthropods, it leaves behind its
shell.
AM,
It will go through a shedding stage as
many times as necessary as it grows.
When very young it sheds very often,
sometimes five and six times the first
year. The better the food supply the more
it will shed.
Sheds Often When Young
Often you will see the discarded light tan
shells of the horseshoe crab high and dry
along tide line. Many will think they have
died and wonder about their death. The
way to tell a dead crab from one that has
shed is to look along the front edge of the
shell and find a slit where the crab
emerged. Once out, the shell resembles the
live crab completely but, of course,
without any of its living parts. A dead
horseshoe crab is usually dark in color and
easily told by odor.
This shedding is probably the most
dangerous time for crabs as they are
completely helpless, soft as your skin and
weak because of the process of shedding.
Many are eaten by predators that lurk
about. Eat or be eaten is the motto of the
sea. To escape this fate they will find a
hiding place beneath a clump of grass or
bury themselves in the mud. Here they will
wait for their shell to harden. First it will
become a leatherback which is between
the hard and soft stage and then in two or
three or more days it will emerge with its
new shiny hard shell ready to hold its place
in the world.
The horseshoe crab at one time was
thought to be a relative of other crabs that
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EMPTY SHELLS - -To grow the horseshoe crab must shed his shell.
Evidence of this is often seen along our high tide mark.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
roamed the sea bottoms. But in 1829 a
German scientist determined that in no
way did it fit any of the classifications of
crabs but rather it was akin to the spider
family. For one thing crabs have eyes out
on little rods and the horseshoe crab's eyes
are embedded in its shell. To top this it has
more than one set of eyes. These eyes do
not see as you and I think of an eye seeing
but are merely responsive to light and
dark.
The horseshoe crab comes up on our
shores only once in the spring to lay its
eggs. The rest of the time is spent out of
sight on the bay or ocean bottoms prodding
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about like some prehistoric creature which
it literally is. It is said that you can take a
horseshoe crab to a museum today and lay
it alongside the fossil imprint of a 200 -mil-
lion- year -old horseshoe crab and see little
difference.
Yet, this ancient creature is a true
bluebiood in every sense. Its blood has
copper in it rather than iron and therefore
when exposed to the air turns blue. Many
scientific studies are now being under-
taken using this ancient mariner's blood
such as to diagnose meningitis, to check
for the presence of endotoxins and others.
Also extensive studies are being made of
the eyes of this unique creature to help
solve human problems.
And yet we find the horseshoe crab is
mostly misunderstood. The ignorant will
destroy it just because it looks ugly or they
think it will bite them or spear them with
its long pointed tail. All this stems from
ignorance. Often when I've had a group of
people out on a walk and I find a live
horseshoe crab I'll turn it over on its back
and put my hand right inside the maze of
moving legs and claws. It cannot nip you
and is generally harmless.
Farmers Collected Horseshoe Crabs
Years ago when commercial fertilizer
was not available and Yankee ingenuity
took its place, horseshoe crabs were then
collected, broken up and used as fertilizer
on Long Island. I can still remember
farmers along the beach gathering these
crabs in burlap bags to be taken back for
pig feed. They keep for long periods of
time without water, often a week or more
and so at harvest time thousands were
gathered for such use.
I've been told by old timers that it was a
familiar sight to see the farmer with his
horse and wagon going along the beach on
spring moonlight nights gathering up the
glistening hulks of the horseshoe crab as
they bulldozed themselves into the high
sands of the spring tide. Today the main
use in our bays is for bait in eel pots. It is
supposed to be the best and because they
are so easily found and gathered many are
used.
Once developed, the horseshoe crab has
few enemies, the biggest threat of course
is man with his pollution. The problems of
bottom dwellers and feeders are astro-
nomical in today's world. Few of us see
what goes on below the surface of the
water and what goes on is a mystery to
most. Like the seabirds above, that alight
in the floating oil and perish so the
horseshoe crab meets his fate when he
comes across heavy globs of oil and sludge
on the bottom that have been dumped into
the sea. It would be a sad commentary on
our times if man in a few years eliminates
what Nature has fostered for 200 million
years.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH