Horseshoe Crab Spawning | Tachypleus tridentatus

Horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus tridentatus) generally move in a measured, relatively slow manner, when they move at all. When females emerge after spawning however, they occasionally do so with surprising speed and force, as seen here. The female in the foreground has lifted herself out of the gravel and mud in one rapid motion, creating this momentary effervescence from the release of small pockets of air that had been trapped in the substrate.

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Filename: tachypleus-tridentatus-horseshoe-crab-spawning-japan-202007-0746.tif
Copyright: Copyright Tony Wu. All rights reserved. No duplication, reproduction or usage without prior written permission.
Image Size: 7744x5163 / 114.6MB; https://www.photoshelter.com/support/license#rm; https://www.tony-wu.com/contact-tony-wu; Arthropod Horseshoe Crab Animalia Arthropoda Xiphosura Limulidae Tachypleus tridentatus Chinese Horseshoe Crab Japanese Horseshoe Crab Kabuto-gani Tri-Spine Horseshoe Crab Endangered: IUCN Red List Reproduction Spawning Pacific Japan Yamaguchi Prefecture
Contained in galleries: Marine Life Reproduction, Marine Life | Japan

Horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus tridentatus) generally move in a measured, relatively slow manner, when they move at all. When females emerge after spawning however, they occasionally do so with surprising speed and force, as seen here. The female in the foreground has lifted herself out of the gravel and mud in one rapid motion, creating this momentary effervescence from the release of small pockets of air that had been trapped in the substrate.