Horseshoe crabs as potential sentinel species for coastal health: juvenile haemolymph quality and relationship to habitat conditions

Abstract

As an interface between terrestrial and marine environments, coastal and estuarine areas are particularly prone to various pollution stresses. Identification of sentinel species is, therefore, essential to provide precautionary information on coastal health conditions. Given their significant ecological roles in estuarine ecosystems, horseshoe crabs are a potential species to indicate the general health status of coastal habitats. The present study demonstrated that the changes in haemolymph composition pattern of two Asian juvenile horseshoe crab species (Tachypleus tridentatus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) are sensitive to reflect heavy metal (lead, nickel and iron) and nutrient (nitrate and ammonia) concentrations of intertidal sediments. In particular, a significant negative correlation was found for the amebocyte viability and ratio of granular–spherical to granular–flattened and degranulated dendritic-like morphological states of amebocytes in juvenile haemolymph with nitrate and lead concentrations respectively. There were also significantly higher concentrations of haemolymph haemocyanin and plasma protein in juvenile C. rotundicauda than in T. tridentatus on the same shore, possibly being related to the difference in foraging habitats of these two horseshoe crab species. Such non-lethal sampling of haemolymph from juvenile horseshoe crabs can be useful for a further development of the monitoring program in assessing potential environmental impacts by anthropogenic activities.