First Record of Tri-spine Horseshoe Crab, Tachypleus tridentatus (Merostomata: Xiphosurida: Limulidae) from Korean Waters

Abstract

A tri-spine horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus (Leach, 1819) was collected from a sandy beach of Udo Island of Jeju during the full moon tides in November 1997. Three spines on the posterior margin of the opisthosoma were characterized indicating that the specimen was T. tridentatus. This specimen was a female with the total length of 49.5 cm and prosoma width of 23.0 cm. Tachypleus tridentatus was the first record from Korean waters. A brief description and figures of the species were given. This finding indicates that Korea is included to the distribution range of the species.

Keywords

• tri-spine horseshoe crab
• Tachypleus tridentatus
• Limulidae
• Udo Island
• Jeju
• Korea