Posts Tagged ‘Reproduction’

Horseshoe Crab Spawning underway in Baltimore Maryland

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

We are still in the peak season of the anual horseshoe crab spawning season along the east coast of the United States.

Baltimore Maryland is one place where you can go to see this extrodinary event. The beaches littered with horseshoe crabs laying their eggs and the shorebirds following them eating their fill to gain necessary wieght to continue their journey to their breeding grounds.

Here’s a link to  see a picture of these ancient creatures doing what they do best  and view an article from the Baltimore Sun on this years horseshoe crab migration.

Horseshoe Crab Reproduction – a slim chance of survival

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

Horseshoe crabs have a unique reproductive strategy.

The female horseshoe crab, with a male horseshoe crab in tow will come up to the shore line and lay up to 20,000 eggs in a number of shallow nests that she makes along the beach.

After laying the eggs she pulls the male over the nest when he then fertilizes the eggs.

It’s a good thing that she lays so many eggs because they then leave the nest unattended and the eggs are then open for predators to eat, mainly shorebirds.