This post documents the behaviour of juvenile horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus tridentatus) based on observations made at an inter-tidal mudflat at Ha Pak Nai, Deep Bay, New Territories, Hong Kong.
All observable juvenile horseshoe crab activity on the mudflat appears to be synchronized with the tides. Before the tide comes in, the juveniles bury themselves in the substrate. When the tide recedes, they emerge to forage.
The following are examples of walking, wandering and sprinting behaviour, either after the tide has receded, or after foraging activity has taken place.
Wandering as the tide is receding
This video is of a juvenile T. tridentatus wandering from pool to pool in a well developed seagrass bed, just as the tide is receding, perhaps searching for a new foraging area:
Olympic sprint
These photographs show a juvenile T. tridentatus running at high speed across an exposed area of mudflat and quickly burying itself:
Transition from foraging to walking
The following series of photographs shows the sequence of trails left by a juvenile T. tridentatus as it transitions from foraging to walking:
Pool on sandy area of beach where the photographs below were taken.
Foraging horseshoe crab(s)
Transition from foraging to walking trail (walking starts with tail marks)
Walking horseshoe crab
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