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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Horseshoe Crab Eggs: A Rare Resource For Predators In Long Island Sound, Mark Beekey, Jennifer Mattei, Barbara J. Pierce
Horseshoe Crab Eggs: A Rare Resource For Predators In Long Island Sound, Mark Beekey, Jennifer Mattei, Barbara J. Pierce
Biology Faculty Publications
In Delaware Bay, the spawning of several million horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) coincides with the arrival of migratory shorebirds that feed on their eggs. High horseshoe crab spawning densities and resulting high egg densities drive egg availability and predation rates. At high spawning densities, female horseshoe crabs perturb previously deposited clutches causing eggs to rise to the sediment surface (surface egg densities average 100,000 eggs m− 2). At the surface (0–5 cm), the eggs are quickly depleted by shorebirds and other predators. This interaction between egg density and egg predation has not been explicitly explored on …