A preliminary investigation of epibiotic macrofauna on the mangrove horseshoe crab Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda (Latreille, 1802) in Singapore

ABSTRACT

Horseshoe crabs may act as mobile substrata for communities of sessile marine organisms on intertidal mudflats. In Singapore, the mangrove horseshoe crabs, Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda (Latreille, 1802) were surveyed for the diversity of epibiotic macrofauna. The most common epibiota observed was the barnacles belonging to Amphibalanus spp., along with other organisms: slipper snails Crepidula walshi and anemones (species undetermined). We also report the first account of an invasive American brackish mussel, Mytella strigata on C. rotundicauda in Singapore. Adult horseshoe crabs, particularly the males, have the highest prevalence and abundance of epibionts. A distinct distribution of epibionts was observed across horseshoe crab gender, age class and between the dorsal and ventral planes. Barnacles were found to be the dominant fouling on dorsal planes, while M. strigata and slipper snails occurred mainly on the ventral planes.

KEYWORDS:

• Mangrove horseshoe crab
• Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda
• macrofaunal biodiversity
• epibiont distribution
• horseshoe crab carapace

Acknowledgements

All authors sincerely thank the volunteers of the Nature Society (Singapore) for their spirited effort in assisting with the surveys. The authors also thank the Singapore Police Coast Guard for providing access to Kranji Mudflats. Authors C.S. Lim, M.L. Neo, S.L-M. Teo acknowledge the National Research Foundation, Singapore for supporting their research at the St. John’s Island National Marine Laboratory and funding for the project. The authors sincerely thanked the reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore under the Marine Science R&D Programme (MSRDP-P39).