Feeding Mechanisms of Adult Tropical Horseshoe Crab, Tachypleus gigas toward Feeds’ Conditions

• Published in: ASM science journal Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 76 - 85
• Main Authors: Mohd Razali Md Razak, Zaleha Kassim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Academy of Sciences Malaysia 01.10.2018
• ISSN: 1823-6782

Information on tropical horseshoe crabs, Tachypleus gigas (Müller, 1785) feeding behaviour and preference feed of the are still scanty compared to work on Limulus polyphemus (Linnaeus, 1758). Conditions of foods substantially influence their edibility. However, horseshoe crabs might have specific behaviour to manipulate the foraged food. The aim of this paper is to investigate the feeding mechanism of T. gigas toward different feed conditions. Experiments were done inside a glass aquarium. We introduced 30 males and females respectively to five different natural potential feeds, namely, gastropods (Turritella sp.), crustacean (Squilla sp.), fish (Lates calcarifer), bivalve (Meretrix meretrix) and polychaete (Nereis sp.). We had manipulated the condition of introduced feed based on the several potential foods conditions in nature such as, sheltered (protected with shell, hard outer skin or host tube), unsheltered and decayed before introduced the feeds to the crabs. In present study, female crabs took shorter response period toward surrounding feed compared to males. Overall, they prefer to consume freshly dead feeds and would totally reject the sheltered feeds, such as, shell, hard outer skin and tube host. Male crabs have particular feeding behaviours to manipulate the edibility of the decayed feeds. Detailed experiments on the feeding behaviour and preference feed of horseshoe crabs could provide more information on their foraging activity in the wild.