Published October 31, 2003
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The morphological differentiation of two horseshoe crab species, Tachypleus tridentatus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda (Xiphosura), in Hong Kong with a regional Asian comparison
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Chiu, Helen M. C., Morton, Brian (2003): The morphological differentiation of two horseshoe crab species, Tachypleus tridentatus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda (Xiphosura), in Hong Kong with a regional Asian comparison. Journal of Natural History 37 (19): 2369-2382, DOI: 10.1080/00222930210149753, URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00222930210149753
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- urn:lsid:plazi.org:pub:FFD7FFE5FFADFFB7E320C547FFC0FE5B
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- Figure: 10.5281/zenodo.5263468 (DOI)
References
- According to the guidelines provided by Mikkelsen (1988), Yamasaki et al. (1988) and Chatterji (1994), horseshoe crabs present in Hong Kong waters belong to two species, namely, Tachypleus tridentatus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda. The distinctive characteristics for species identification and sexual differentiation are listed in table 1. Tachypleus tridentatus is a large species with an adult body weight of generally >1.0 kg and a carapace length of >230 mm whereas for C. rotundicauda, body sizes are much smaller with a body weight of <0.6 kg and a carapace length of <180 mm. Females of both species are generally larger and heavier than their respective males, which is also reflected in the figures showing the size-weight distribution of mature individuals of the two species (figure 3A, B). Based on data obtained during the study period, total body length, that is, a+b+c, of a T. tridentatus female can be as large as 705 mm whereas for a male, a maximum length of 614 mm was recorded. The largest C. rotundicauda female collected had a total body length of 382 mm while the biggest male was at 335 mm.
- The male Tachypleus tridentatus has a pair of notches on the anterior margin of the prosomatic carapace and this is the most distinctive feature distinguishing between males and females of this as well as individuals of other species. Males of both species had their second and third prosomal appendages thickened and modified to form claspers which, according to Yamasaki et al. (1988), are used for grasping the right and left margins of the female opisthosoma during pairing. The curved claspers of the second and third prosomal appendages of male Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda form a stout chela which is a characteristic feature used in identification. The last three pairs of marginal opisthosomal spines, that is, S , S and S , of female