Migration of limulus for mating: relation to lunar phase, tide height, and sunlight
TLDR
In the spring, horseshoe crabs along the eastern coast of North America migrate toward shore to build nests close to the water's edge, and in 1984 the mating season near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, extended from 14 May to 7 July.Abstract:
In the spring, horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) along the eastern coast of North America migrate toward shore to build nests close to the water's edge. In 1984 the mating season near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, extended from 14 May to 7 July. Mating activity during this period fluctuated with the phase of the moon, the height of the tide, and diurnal changes in daylight. As the moon approached new and full phases, large numbers of animals migrated into the intertidal zone to mate and build nests. They appeared 1-2 h before high tide, and returned to deep water about 2 h after high tide. No mating activity occurred during low tides. The two daily high tides in this region are unequal in height. The inequality is greatest during new and full moons. At these times most animals migrated toward shore on the higher tide, which occurred in the late afternoon and throughout the night. As the moon passed through quadrature the tidal inequality diminished and reversed. Mating activity changed accordingly: shore ...read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Endogenous rhythms of locomotion in the American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that an endogenously controlled tidal rhythm of locomotion operates during, and significantly after, the breeding season in this species and the present results are consistent with the presence of circalunidian oscillators controlling these rhythms.
Book ChapterDOI
The evolution of alternative strategies and tactics
TL;DR: This chapter draws on the literature of these fields to identify similar patterns and common models that can be applied to the understanding of alternative phenotypes in general, and suggests a different system for categorizing alternative phenotype: irreversible or adult lifetime patterns and reversible or facultative patterns.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
TL;DR: The City of Quincy as mentioned in this paper proposed the diversion of the Town Brook from a connecting point upstream of Quincy Center along the south side of the Concourse Roadway Improvement project, through 1,200 linear feet of closed and open channel culvert sections to the proposed connection point downstream of Quincy center, where it will rejoin the existing Town Brook alignment.
Journal ArticleDOI
Nest-Site Selection in the Horseshoe Crab, Limulus polyphemus.
Dustin J. Penn,H J Brockmann +1 more
TL;DR: It is suggested that horseshoe crabs synchronize their nesting with the tides that reach the aerobic sediments on the beach, resulting in nesting patterns that differ with differences in tidal regimes and beach morphology.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mating behavior of horseshoe crabs, limulus polyphemus
TL;DR: An experimental manipulation demonstrated that satellite males are capable of fertilizing eggs which suggests that sperm competition is the primary explanation for the presence of unattached males on the beach.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Adaptive Significance of Reproductive Cycles in the Fiddler Crab Uca pugilator: A Hypothesis
TL;DR: The relation of the time of reproduction to tide cycles may be an adaptation to increase to a maximum the probability that the final stage of the planktonic larvae will be transported by tidal currents to substrates suitable for adults.
Journal ArticleDOI
Efferent optic nerve fibers mediate circadian rhythms in the Limulus eye
TL;DR: When the horseshoe crab is kept in constant darkness, the lateral eye produces larger electroretinographic and optic nerve responses at night than during the day.
Journal ArticleDOI
Circadian rhythms in the Limulus visual system
TL;DR: A circadian clock in the Limulus brain generates efferent optic nerve activity at night that mediates circadian rhythms in retinal responses and shows synchronous bursting activity, which indicates extensive coupling in the brain among the efferent neurons or among the circadian pacemakers that drive them.