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Sallow-skin horseshoe crabs (late juvenile Tachypleus tridentatus) as osmoconformers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2011

Yongyan Liao ,
Chang-Po Chen ,
Hwey-Lian Hsieh ,
Yucheng Cao  and
Jiejun Chen
Yongyan Liao
Affiliation:
Fisheries College of Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524025, China
Chang-Po Chen*
Affiliation:
Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan
Hwey-Lian Hsieh
Affiliation:
Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan
Yucheng Cao
Affiliation:
Fisheries College of Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524025, China
Jiejun Chen
Affiliation:
Fisheries College of Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524025, China
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: C.-P. Chen, Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan email: zocp@gate.sinica.edu.tw
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Abstract

Sallow-skin horseshoe crabs (late juvenile Tachypleus tridentatus) from 30‰ salinity seawater were subjected to salinities ranging from 0‰ to 70‰ at 5‰ intervals for 7 days. They were returned to 30‰ salinity for 3 days for recovery. During this period, the survival rate, feeding rate, and body mass of the horseshoe crabs were measured. The sallow-skin horseshoe crabs survived well at 15‰–60‰ salinity, fed well at 30‰–55‰ salinity, gained mass at 0‰–25‰ salinity, lost mass at 45‰–70‰ salinity, and maintained mass at 30‰–40‰ salinity during salinity challenge. During the recovery period, the dehydrated (mass lost) horseshoe crabs rapidly gained mass, whereas the water-retaining (mass gained) horseshoe crabs rapidly lost mass. These results indicate that the sallow-skin T. tridentatus horseshoe crabs are osmoconformers and can tolerate a wide range of salinity changes, adapting gradually from inshore low salinity to offshore high salinity.

Keywords

Tachypleus tridentatushorseshoe crabosmoregulationfood intake
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 92 , Issue 3 , May 2012 , pp. 463 - 468
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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