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1.
The Delaware Bay region is the epicenter of horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, activity, and despite the ecological and commercial importance of this species, few studies have examined the long-term movements of horseshoe crabs in this area and the amount of mixing that takes place between smaller coastal embayments within the region and the Delaware Bay proper, factors that are critical to effective management. To better understand these factors, 5568 crabs were tagged in the Delaware Inland Bays as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Cooperative Horseshoe Crab Tagging Program in 2002–2016. A high re-sight rate of 20.1% (1123 crabs) was reported to the USFWS. Re-sights suggest that the Delaware Bay population is distributed between coastal New Jersey (south of Barnegat Bay) and coastal Virginia (north of Chincoteague Inlet). There were 90 re-sights in the Inland Bays and 148 re-sights in Delaware Bay, with 320 days or more between tagging and re-sight, showing that substantial interchange between successive spawning seasons occurs. Distance analyses demonstrated that crabs can move between the Inland Bays and other Delaware Bay region waterbodies within a single year. The findings of this study support the current management strategy of splitting the harvest of Delaware Bay crabs between New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia and also demonstrate that the waterbodies within the Delaware Bay region are highly connected. This connectivity supports protecting spawning habitat within the smaller embayments of the Delaware Bay region and including spawning surveys from these systems in future stock assessments.  相似文献   

2.
We assessed the suitability of intertidal habitats for spawning by horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) at 12 proposed restoration sites identified by the United States Army Corps of Engineers along the shore of Jamaica Bay, a highly developed estuary in New York City. Based on beach geomorphology, we chose to quantify horseshoe crab activity at five of the sites during the May–July 2000 breeding season. Horseshoe crabs spawned intensively on small patches of suitable sand within larger areas of eroding shoreline with bulkheads and rubble fill. Small areas of sand behind grounded barges at Brant Point and Dubos Point had densities of over 100,000 eggs m−2, which was equal to or greater than the egg densities on longer, more natural appearing beaches at Spring Creek and Dead Horse Bay, or at a sand spit at Bayswater State Park. There were no significant differences in the percentage of Jamaica Bay horseshoe crab eggs that completed development when cultured using water from Jamaica Bay or lower Delaware Bay, a less polluted location. Only 1% of the embryos from Jamaica Bay exhibited developmental anomalies, a frequency comparable to a previously studied population from Delaware Bay. We suggest that the distribution and abundance of horseshoe crabs at our study areas in Jamaica Bay is presently limited by the availability of suitable shoreline for breeding, rather than by water quality. Restoration efforts that increase the amount of sandy beach in this urban estuary have a good likelihood of benefiting horseshoe crabs and providing additional value to migrating shorebirds that use horseshoe crab eggs as food.  相似文献   

3.
The Delaware Bay contains the world’s largest population of horseshoe crabs, which constitute an ecologically significant component of this estuarine ecosystem. The North Atlantic speciesLimulus polyphemus has an extensive geographical distribution, ranging from New England to the Gulf of Mexico. Recent assessments of the Delaware Bay population based on beach spawning and trawling data have suggested a considerable decrease in the number of adult animals since 1990. Considerable debate has centered on the accuracy of these estimates and their impact on marine fisheries management planning. Compounding this problem is the lack of information concerning the genetic structure of Atlantic horseshoe crab populations. This study assessed patterns of genetic variation within and between the horseshoe crab populations of Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay, using both Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and DNA sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI). We examined 41 animals from Delaware Bay and 14 animals from the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay. To provide high quality, uncontaminated genomic DNA for RAPD analysis, DNA was isolated from hemocytes by direct cardiac puncture, purified by spin column chromatography, and quantified by agarose gel electrophoresis. RAPD fingerprints revealed a relative paucity of polymorphic fragments, with generally homogeneous banding patterns both within and between populations. DNA sequence analysis of 515 bases of the 5′ portion of the mitochondrial COI gene showed haplotype diversity in the Chesapeake Bay sample to be significantly higher than in the Delaware Bay sample, despite the larger size of the latter. Haplotype analysis indicates minimal contemporary gene flow between Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay crab populations, and further suggests that the Delaware Bay population is recovering from a recent population decline.  相似文献   

4.
Cluster analysis of some chemical characteristics of marine sediments and associated waste deposits in the New York Bight reveals the existence of four cluster facies. Cluster facies I is the sediment containing dredged wastes from New York Harbor. Cluster facies II is the widespread sand and gravel deposit of the continental shelf. Cluster facies III is the finergrained material in the Hudson Channel and the material accumulated in the sewage sludge disposal area. Cluster facies IV is not easily identified; it may correspond to some relict sedimentary feature in the area. Editor's Note: Ali is now with the Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543; Gross is now with Chesapeake Bay Institute. The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218.  相似文献   

5.
Spawning densities, spawning indices, egg densities, size distributions, and movement patterns of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) were quantified for four coastal embayments (Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Pleasant Bay, Nauset Estuary, and Cape Cod Bay) on Cape Cod, Massachusetts from 2000 to 2002. Spawning activity was highest from mid May through mid June, but densities varied throughout the Cape Cod region. Average spawning densities (male and female crabs combined), measured using 25-m2 quadrats, were lower than 1 crab 25 m?2, although certain locations had consistently higher densities averaging 2 to 3 crabs 25 m?2 with individual survey densities recorded as high as 17 crabs 25 m?2. Spawning densities during night surveys were either similar or slightly higher than day surveys, except at a few sites within Pleasant Bay. Spawning indices were considerably lower ranging from 0 to 1.3 females 25 m?2 throughout the Cape Cod region. Spawning sex ratios varied from 1∶1.6 to 1∶3.1 (females:males) throughout the region, except within Pleasant Bay where highly male skewed ratios were observed (e.g., 1∶5.8, 3-yr average). Egg densities were low overall (<1 egg cm?2) throughout Cape Cod and egg densities tended to be higher in deeper sediments (5–20 cm deep) compared to shallow sediments (0–5 cm deep) at most locations. Over 7,800 horseshoe crabs were tagged on Cape Cod from 2000 to 2002. Average size and size frequency distributions of tagged crabs varied among regions. Larger individuals were observed at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge while the smallest individuals were from Cape Cod Bay. We documented an overall recapture rate of 6.7% and our tag-recapture data indicated that 62% of crabs were recaptured at the original tagging location and 70% of recaptures traveled less than 2 km from the original tagging location, providing evidence for localized populations on Cape Cod. We have observed that horseshoe crabs differ among embayments within a regional area, suggesting the potential need for management plans specific to embayments or subregions depending on the characteristics of a population.  相似文献   

6.
Because the Delaware Bay horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) population is managed to provide for dependent species, such as migratory shorebirds, there is a need to understand the process of egg exhumation and to predict eggs available to foraging shorebirds. A simple spatial model was used to simulate horseshoe crab spawning that would occur on a typical Delaware Bay beach during spring tide cycles to quantify density-dependent nest disturbance. At least 20% of nests and eggs were disturbed for levels of spawning greater than one third of the average density in Delaware Bay during 2004. Nest disturbance increased approximately linearly as spawning density increased from one half to twice the 2004 level. As spawning density increased further, the percentage of eggs that were disturbed reached an asymptote of 70% for densities up to 10 times the density in 2004. Nest disturbance was heaviest in the mid beach zone. Nest disturbance precedes entrainment and begins the process of exhumation of eggs to surface sediments. Model predictions were combined with observations from egg surveys to estimate a snap-shot exhumation rate of 5–9% of disturbed eggs. Because an unknown quantity of eggs were exhumed and removed from the beach prior to the survey, cumulative exhumation rate was likely to have been higher than the snap-shot estimate. Because egg exhumation is density-dependent, in addition to managing for a high population size, identification and conservation of beaches where spawning horseshoe crabs concentrate in high densities (i.e., hot spots) are important steps toward providing a reliable food supply for migratory shorebirds.  相似文献   

7.
The Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire, USA is near the northern distribution limit of the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus). This estuary has few ideal beaches for spawning, yet it supports a modest population of horseshoe crabs. There is no organized monitoring program in the Great Bay Estuary, so it is unclear when and where spawning occurs. In this 2-year study (May through June, 2012 and 2013), >5,000 adult horseshoe crabs were counted at four sites in the estuary. The greatest densities of horseshoe crabs were observed at Great Bay sites in the upper, warmer reaches of the estuary. Peaks of spawning activity were not strongly correlated with the times of the new or full moons, and similar numbers of horseshoe crabs were observed mating during daytime and nighttime high tides. While many environmental factors are likely to influence the temporal and spatial patterns of spawning in this estuary, temperature appears to have the most profound impact.  相似文献   

8.
Knowledge of resource-use and movement patterns is a missing component in the development of horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) management strategies. Available evidence indicates the potential for a variety of possible migratory behaviors, but the lack of high-resolution, spatial-temporal data has hindered development of a year-round profile of ranging behavior. This need was addressed in the present study by using acoustic telemetry to track the movements of adult horseshoe crabs in two subembayments (Egypt and Hog Bays) of the Taunton Bay Estuary, Maine, from June 2003 to June 2005. Estimated mean total home range sizes were 64.1 and 61.4 ha for breeding crabs tagged in Egypt and Hog Bays, respectively. We observed no horseshoe crab dispersal to areas outside of the subembayments where they were tagged, so no mixing was observed between Egypt and Hog Bay individuals despite a < 4-km separation. Observed shifts in movement patterns, resource use (subtidal versus intertidal), and vagility facilitated a profile of seasonally partitioned horseshoe crab activity, which included late April to early May post-wintering, June–July breeding, August–September pre-wintering, and October–April wintering, where space usage represented about 10% of the mean total home range size. The apparent isolation of these resident populations implies a heightened vulnerability to overexploitation and large-scale habitat alteration that might be more easily sustained by larger, more vagile populations. This work underscores the need to apply horseshoe crab conservation, research, and management efforts at scales that are appropriate to the ranging patterns of crabs, which first requires application of high-resolution methods to identify those patterns.  相似文献   

9.
As part of the Microbial Exchanges and Coupling in Coastal Atlantic Systems (MECCAS) Project, crab larvae were collected in the shelf waters off Chesapeake Bay in June and August 1985 and April 1986. We conducted hydrographic (temperature, salinity, nutrients) and biological (chlorophyll, copepods) mapping in conjunction with Eulerian and Lagrangian time studies of the vertical distribution of crab larvae in the Chesapeake Bay plume. These abundance estimates are used with current meter records and drifter trajectories to infer mechanisms of larval crab dispersion to the shelf waters and recruitment back into Chesapeake Bay. The highest numbers of crab larvae were usually associated with the Chesapeake Bay plume, suggesting that it was the dominant source of crab larvae to shelf waters. Patches of crab larvae also were found in the higher salinity shelf waters, and possibly were remnants of previous plume discharge events. The distribution of crab larvae in the shelf waters changed on 1–2 d time scales as a consequence of both variations in the discharge rate of the Chesapeake Bay plume and local wind-driven currents. Downwelling-favorable winds (NW) intensified the coastal jet and confined the plume and crab larvae along the coast. In April during a downwelling event (when northwesterly winds predominated), crab zoeae were transported southward along the coast at speeds that at times exceeded 168 km d−1. During June and August the upwelling-favorable winds (S, SW) opposed the anticyclonic turn of the plume and, via Ekman circulation, forced the plume and crab larvae to spread seaward. Plume velocities during these conditions generally were less than 48 km d−1. The recruitment of crab larvae to Chesapeake Bay is facilitated in late summer by the dominance of southerly winds, which can reverse the southward flow of shelf waters. Periodic downwelling-favorable winds can result in surface waters and crab larvae moving toward the entrance of Chesapeake Bay. Approximately 27% of the larval crabs spend at least part of the day in bottom waters, which have a residual drift toward the bay mouth. There appears to be a variety of physical transport mechanisms that can enhance the recruitment of crab larvae into Chesapeake Bay.  相似文献   

10.
Concern for the status of horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) has increased as harvest for conch and eel bait has increased and spawning habitat has decreased. In early 1999 a workshop was held at the behest of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to design a statistically valid survey of horseshoe crab spawning in Delaware Bay. The survey that resulted was a redesign of a volunteer-based spawning survey that began in 1990, and its network of volunteers was relied on to implement the three-stage sampling design in 1999. During May and June of 1999, 163 participants surveyed during the highest of the daily high tides on 16 beaches (8 on each site of Delaware Bay). During the first half of the spawning season, spawning was associated with lunar phases, but moderated by wave height. Disproportionately more spawning occurred within 3 d of the first new and full moons, and spawning activity (measured by an index of female density) was correlated inversely to the percent of beaches with waves ≥0.3 m. Spawning was heaviest on the Delaware shore around the full moon in May in spite of low waves in New Jersey during the new and full moons in May. Number of beaches sampled was the most important factor in determining the precision of the spawning index and power to detect a decline. Explicit consideration of statistical power has been absent from the current debate on horseshoe crab status and harvest. Those who argue against harvest restrictions because of a lack of statistically significant declines take on a burden to show that the surveys they cite have high statistical power. We show the Delaware Bay spawning survey will achieve high statistical power with sufficient sampling intensity and duration. We recommend that future Delaware Bay spawning surveys sample on 3 d around each new and full moon in May and June and increase the number of beaches to ensure high statistical power to detect trends in baywide spawning activity.  相似文献   

11.
Atlantic horseshoe crabs,Limulus polyphemus, are currently harvested for biomedical, scientific, and bait purposes. In recent years, changes in population abundance and magnitude of harvesting have raised concerns about the status of this resource. We found horseshoe crab harvest in Pleasant Bay, Massachusetts, was selective by sex and size. Biomedical harvest preferred larger individuals and females, the scientific harvest preferred smaller individuals and males, and the bait harvest preferred females. Total 2001 harvest for all purposes accounted for the mortality of ∼1–2% the adult population. Biomedical harvest accounted for the greatest loss of horseshoe crabs from Pleasant Bay, ∼1–1.6% of the total population. Although biomedical harvest had the lowest associated mortality rate (∼10–15%), many more crabs were harvested from Pleasant Bay for biomedical purposes than for other uses. The scientific harvest accounted for the mortality of ∼0.4% of the population, and bait harvest accounted for the smallest mortality at ∼0.06% of the population. Harvest mortality rate was estimated to be lower in Pleasant Bay than in other Cape Cod areas and may be lower than natural mortality in the population. This study is the first qualitative investigation of commercial harvest on horseshoe crab populations and emphasizes that harvest pressures on different populations need to be individually evaluated.  相似文献   

12.
During a reward program for Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus), 40 federally endangered shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) were captured and reported by commercial fishers between January 1996 and January 2000 from the Chesapeake Bay. Since this is more than double the number of published records of shortnose sturgeon in the Chesapeake Bay between 1876 and 1995, little information has been available on distributions and movement. We used fishery dependent data collected during the reward program to determine the distribution of shortnose sturgeon in the Chesapeake Bay. Sonically-tagged shortnose sturgeon in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River were tracked to determine if individuals swim through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Shortnose sturgeon were primarily distributed within the upper Chesapeake Bay. The movements of one individual, tagged within the Chesapeake Bay and later relocated in the canal and Delaware River, indicated that individuals traverse the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.  相似文献   

13.
The distribution, abundance, and dispersal patterns of horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) trilobite larvae were determined from 671 plankton tows taken near a spawning beach in lower Delaware Bay, New Jersey, in 1998 and 1999. In both years, peaks in larval abundance occurred during periods of rough surf (>30 cm wave heights). Planktonic larvae were significantly more abundant nocturnally than during the day, but there was no evidence of a lunar component to larval abundance. Larvae were strongly concentrated inshore; trilobites were 10–100 times more abundant in the immediate vicinity of the shoreline than they were 100–200 m offshore. The strong tendency ofLimulus larvae to remain close to the beach suggests that their capability for long-range dispersal between estuaries is extremely limited. We suggest that limited larval dispersal potential may help explain previously observed patterns of genetic variation among the Mid-Atlantic horseshoe crab populations.  相似文献   

14.
The 1977 peak population of spawning horsehoe crabs,Limulus polyphemus, in Delaware Bay, was comprised of about 222,000 males and 51,000 females. This estimate, based upon a shoreline survey of spawning intensity along Delaware and New Jersey beaches at the time of full moon tides in June, was corroborated by a quantification of egg clusters in a beach. Fecundity of gravid females was used, in conjunction with the egg cluster estimate, to approximate the number of females responsible for the observed quantity of eggs. The present spawning population of Delaware Bay is several fold larger than that which existed during the 1960’s. From a longer historical perspective, however, the population is far from approaching the numbers and spawning intensity reported a century ago.  相似文献   

15.
The effects of wave action and horseshoe crab spawning on the topography and grain-size characteristics on the foreshore of an estuarine sand beach in Delaware Bay, New Jersey, USA were evaluated using data collected over six consecutive high tides. Data were gathered inside and outside a 25 m long exclosure constructed to create a control area free of disturbance by crabs. The density of crabs in the swash zone outside the exclosure was 8·1 organisms m−2. The maximum depth of sediment activation on the upper foreshore where spawning occurred was 0·103 m during periods characterized by low significant wave heights: < 0·08 m. This depth is greater than the depth of activation by waves alone during moderate significant wave heights of 0·16–0·18 m but less than the maximum depth (0·127 m) recorded when spawning occurred during periods of moderate wave heights. Spawning, combined with moderate wave heights, creates a concave upper foreshore that is similar to the type of profile change that occurs during storms, thus lowering the wave-energy threshold for morphological response. Spawning during low wave heights increases the mean grain size and sorting of surface sediments caused by the addition of gravel to the swash. Sedimentological differences are most pronounced on the upper foreshore, and data from this location may be most useful when using grain-size characteristics to interpret the effect of spawning in the sedimentary record. Depths of sediment reworking by horseshoe crabs can be greater than those by subsequent storm waves, so evidence of spawning can be preserved on non-eroding beaches. Greater depth of activation by horseshoe crab spawning than by waves alone, even during moderate-energy conditions, reveals the importance of crab burrowing in releasing eggs to the water column and making them available for shore birds.  相似文献   

16.
Long records of monthly salinity observations along the axis of Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and Long Island Sound are used to test a simple advection–dispersion model of the salt distribution in linearly tapered estuaries developed in a previous paper. We subdivide each estuary into three to five segments, each with linear taper allowing a distributed input of fresh water, and evaluate the dispersion in each segment. While Delaware Bay has weak dispersion and a classical sigmoidal salinity structure, Long Island Sound and Chesapeake Bay are more dispersive and have relatively small gradients in the central stretches. Long Island Sound is distinguished by having a net volume and salt flux out of its low-salinity end resulting in a smaller range of salinity and increasing axial gradients at its head rather than the usual asymptotic approach to zero salinity. Estimates of residence times based on model transport coefficients show that Long Island Sound has the most rapid response to fresh-water flux variations. It also has the largest amplitude cycle in river discharge fluctuation. In combination, these cause the large seasonal variation in the salinity structure relative to interannual variability in Long Island Sound as compared with Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay.  相似文献   

17.
A two-year trawling and gill-netting study of vegetated and unvegetated bottoms near Parson’s Island, Maryland and near the mouth of the York River, Virginia was carried out to assess the nursery function of submerged vegetation for populations of fishes and decapod crustaceans in the Chesapeake Bay. Results revealed that vegetated bottoms supported substantially larger numbers of decapods, but not fishes, than unvegetated substrates. The lower Bay grassbed was an important nursery area for juvenile blue crabs, although neither of the grassbeds functioned as a nursery for commercially or recreationally valuable fishes. Our results suggest that: (1) further decreases in lower Bay Seagrass biomass would result in reduced numbers of adult blue crabs, but should not substantially affect populations of valuable fish species; (2) additional decreases in Upper Bay submerged vegetation should not produce dramatic change in the population sizes of either adult blue crabs or fishes.  相似文献   

18.
The Poplar Island Dredged Material Placement Site in Talbot County, Maryland is proposed to be used for the restoration of Poplar Island and for the creation of desirable habitats lost through erosion of Poplar Island by the beneficial use of clean and uncontaminated dredged material from the Chesapeake Bay approach channels to the Port of Baltimore. The Poplar Island baseline environmental assessment studies included among others, seasonal water quality, benthic community, and benthic tissue contaminants, that were carried out by the Maryland Department of the Environment, in cooperation with the University of Maryland, from September 1995 to July 1996. The purpose of the study was to document the present-day levels of nutrients, trace metals, and organic contaminants in the area to establish a baseline against which subsequent levels and biological responses may be compared. The overall results of the study indicate that Poplar Island and vicinity areas are non-impacted in terms of water quality and benthic tissue contamination. The nutrient levels in the water column were below average for this region of Chesapeake Bay, while the trace metals and organic contamination in the benthic tissues were comparable to other sites within Chesapeake Bay that are not impacted by direct inputs. Concentrations were equivalent or lower than those found at Hart-Miller Island, a disposal facility outside Baltimore Harbor, Maryland containing dredged material.  相似文献   

19.
Marshes are important habitats for various life history stages of many fish and invertebrates. Much effort has been directed at restoring marshes, yet it is not clear how fish and invertebrates have responded to marsh restoration. The blue crab,Callinectes sapidus, uses marsh habitats during much of its benthic life. We investigated the response of blue crabs to marsh restoration by comparing crab abundance (catch per unit effort), mean size and size frequency distribution, sex ratio, and molt stages of crabs in recently restored marshes that were former salt hay farms to that of adjacent reference marshes with similar physical characteristics in the mesohaline portion of Delaware Bay. Field sampling occurred monthly (April–November) in 1997 and 1998 using replicate daytime otter trawls in large marsh creeks and weirs in smaller intertidal marsh creeks. Blue crabs were either equal or more abundant, the incidence of molting was in most months similar, and population sex ratios were indistinguishable in restored and reference marshes, suggesting that the restored areas attract crabs and support their growth. Site location had a greater effect on the sex ratio of crabs such that marshes closer to the mouth of the bay contained a higher percentage of adult female crabs. In each annual growing season (April–July), the monthly increase in crab size and, in some months (June–July), the incidence of molting at the restored sites was greater than the reference sites, suggesting that the restored sites may provide areas for enhanced growth of crabs. These results suggest that blue crabs have responded positively to restoration of former salt hay farms in the mesohaline portion of Delaware Bay.  相似文献   

20.
 The aim of this paper was to analyze the processing and transport of aluminum speciation through the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay landscape. Stream waters were sampled in 14 different streams from the Susquehanna River watershed to the upper reach of Chesapeake Bay. The basic water quality data were documented and Al speciation was evaluated by modified MINEQL computer model. It was found that the increase in acidity in some of the stream waters near New York were closely linked with a marked decline in basic cation concentrations. In these areas, the sum of the toxic forms of Al3+ plus AlOH2+ and Al(OH)2 + concentrations exceeds the critical level of 5 μmol l–1. A potential threat from aluminum may occur. Received: 3 January 2000 · Accepted: 21 March 2000  相似文献   

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