The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Odisha Forest Department have joined hands to tag horseshoe crabs along the State’s coast to understand the population and habitat utilisation for its conservation and management. Horseshoe crabs are one of oldest living creatures on the Earth, and a valuable species medicinally.
This follows reports of a dwindling population of horseshoe crabs along the Odisha coast. In the first two days, scientists affixed tag, the first such effort in the country, on 70 horseshoe crabs.
“India is home to two species of horseshoe crabs — Tachypleus gigas and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda (mangrove) — and both the species are found along the northeastern coast of India, especially along the Odisha and West Bengal coast. This is an extremely important species. We need to come up with a conservation plan,” Dhriti Banerjee, Director, ZSI, said.
While Odisha has both Tachypleus gigas and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, the Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda are seen in the Sundarbans mangroves of West Bengal.
ZSI senior scientist Basudev Tripathy said the plan involved tagging hundreds of crab to determine their population pattern, and threats to them. “Destructive fishing practices are major threats to horseshoe crabs, and there are reports of illegal smuggling of the species from the Odisha and West Bengal coasts. Horseshoe crabs are a Schedule 2 species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972,” Dr. Tripathy said, adding that illegal trade in horseshoe crabs has to be curbed.
Scientists will tag horseshoe crabs over the next three years in collaboration with State’s Forest Department.
Professor B.C. Choudhury, Member of Odisha State Wildlife Advisory Board, and Anil Chatterjee, a retired scientist from the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, had in 2023 urged the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to place horseshoe crabs on the list of marine species requiring the development of a Species Recovery Plan.
The horseshoe crab is one of oldest living creatures to have lived millions of years without undergoing any morphological change, Dr. Chatterjee said, and it’s known for its strong immune system. The blood of horseshoe crabs is very important for the preparation of rapid diagnostic reagents. All injectables and medicines are tested with the help of horseshoe crabs, he said.
The collaboration could result in the identification of stretches along Odisha where destructive standing fishing nets could be prohibited. Though the crab is not consumed by people, its death is primary caused by fishing nets. The Fakir Mohan University of Balasore, Odisha has too joined in the mission.
ZSI scientist Pratyush Mohapatra said the first tagging of horseshoe crabs was carried out in the Khandiamuhan estuary of the Balasore coast in the presence of the Regional Chief Conservator of Forests, Baripada, Prakash C. Gogineni; Balasore District Forest Officer Khushwant Singh; and Prof. Choudhury and Prof. Sushil Kumar Dutta.
