One interesting fact learned or revisited by the fifty participants at the Cedar Key Library Horseshoe Crabs presentation was that: indeed, a chemical (LAL or Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate) in the horseshoe crab`s blue blood is effective in testing for bacterial contamination in drugs and medical equipment. In fact, the "Food and Drug Administration requires all injectable and intravenous drugs to be tested with LAL, and LAL is used to diagnose certain diseases such as spinal meningitis" states the June 2007 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission`s publication Sea Stats which is devoted to Horseshoe Crabs. That fact is just one of the illuminating pieces of information most ably imparted at the two-part Horseshoe Crab presentation conducted Saturday, March 30, 2013, at 10:30AM. University of Florida School of Forest Resources and Conservation Extension Agent and Cedar Key`s own Leslie Sturmer introduced the first speaker, Dr. Jane Brockmann, UF Professor Emeritus and world expert on horseshoe crabs. Much of Dr. Brockmann`s research and supervision of graduate students is based at the university`s field station at Seahorse Key. DR. BROCKMANN`S PRESENTATION Dr. Brockmann`s 45-minute, stimulating, informative presentation discussed the horseshoe crab`s background, how they are beneficial, and her research. Horseshoe crabs are not crabs at all, she clarified; instead, they are related to spiders, ticks, and scorpions. These creatures, whose ancestors lived some 450 thousand years ago, have changed little through the ages and are resultantly referred to as "living fossils." Of the four species of horseshoe crabs in the world today, three are located in the western Pacific Ocean, from Japan to Vietnam. The last species is found along the North American coast from Maine to Mexico`s Yucatan Peninsula. Horseshoe crabs molt 16 to 17 times in the first nine or ten years in their lives, then, in the final molt, reach maturity; they then survive another six to eight years as adults, achieving a 15 to 20 year life span. One of Dr. Brockmann`s studies involves the strange mating habits of the horseshoe crab. They mate, nest, lay eggs, near or on a new or full moon with the highest tide. Although the crabs mate in pairs, other males are also attracted to the original pair. The attracted males attach themselves to the female and help fertilize her eggs. Sometimes you will see a mating pair with three, four or more `satellite males` attached. The benefits of horseshoe crabs include their blood`s capacity to identify bacterial contamination, enormously advantageous to humans. Shorebirds rely upon the crabs for sustenance. Because horseshoe crabs have been over-harvested as bait and fertilizer, they have now become a managed species. Even with managed protection, recent research indicates their diminished population in the mid-Atlantic states around Delaware Bay. Brockmann`s research centers upon the crab`s reproductive behavior including: both male and female mating tactics and the costs and results of these behaviors. 
Speaker Dr. Joan Brockmann
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TIFFANY BLACK`S PRESENTATION Leslie Sturmer introduced Fish and Wildlife Commission Research Institute`s Tiffany Black to speak to about what we can do to protect the horseshoe crab. Black`s discussion placed numbers and graphics on the decimation horseshoe crabs from the fertilizer and bait industries. Now each state has a quota that it may harvest; the quota is monitored, Black reported. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission created the Horseshoe Crab Fishery Management Plan in 1998. Required by the plan was identifying horseshoe crab spawning grounds, protecting and conserving the crab, while maintaining its use in the industrial sector. The group has collected spawning reports from public volunteers to provide mating season data. Since 2002, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission initiated its own horseshoe crab survey, the goal of which is to locate nesting beaches with the assistance of the public. The survey is simple and may well be a family experience. The survey may be completed online, in hard copy, or by telephone. The following will access survey information: - Toll-free telephone: 1-866-252-9326
- E mail: horseshoe@MyFWC.com
- On-line survey: http://research.MyFWC.com/horseshoe_crab/ Black advised that the public can assist horseshoe crabs in other ways. - Do not disturb mating pairs.
- Avoid horseshoe crabs when approaching beaches by boat.
- "Flip `Em." Turn upside down, hence vulnerable, horseshoe crabs to their proper position should you encounter them turned by waves. The crabs are utterly harmless; they have no poison, no pincher, nothing with which to hurt humans. 
Speaker Tiffany Black
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MARINA INFORMATION PANEL DEDICATED TO RESIDENT KATHLEEN TUCK At the program`s conclusion, Sturmer and Cedar Key Commissioner Sue Colson invited the audience to accompany them to the Marina where a large, rectangular informational panel was dedicated to Kathleen Tuck. Tuck (1952-2010), a Cedar Key resident, devoted countless hours to the horseshoe crab effort. The panel contains photos helpful to easily identify the crabs, pertinent crab facts, their local importance, and what can be done to help protect and conserve these animals. Tuck`s two sons, Alex and Carrick, accepted and unveiled the panel. They were accompanied by Alex`s wife Jenna and their daughter Olivia Louise. The family expressed their gratitude to all involved in this panel project. 
Commissioner Sue Colson and Extension Agent Leslie Sturmer speak to crowd at the panel dedication.
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Kathleen Tuck’s family thanks all those involved in the panel’s completion. From left to right: Jenna Tuck and child Olivia Louise; Alex Tuck, Kathleen’s son and husband and father to Jenna and Olivia Louise; Carrick Tuck, Kathleen’s son.
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