Horseshoe Crab Pair off Lieutenant Island, South Wellfleet
It’s that time of the year again. Horseshoe crabs on the Lieutenant Island tidal flats have paired up and begun the annual spring mating dance. Watch your step as you wade through the water. Pairs are burrowed under the sand; they’re swimming through the water; they’re crawling along the murky bottom. And they’re always paired up with female in the lead, male clinging on for dear life. His objective? Be Johnny on the Spot when she decides to release eggs at a high tide coming soon to a beach near you.
Horseshoe Crabs Horsing Around on Outer Cape CodÂ
As Turtle Journal walked through the Fresh Brook Run this afternoon, we found pair after pair of horseshoe crabs traversing the channel. The only lonelies were a few isolated males cruising the (sand)bars, hoping to find a detached female. Viva la difference!
Saturday morning, April 14th, Turtle Journal spotted its first lion’s mane jelly (Cyanea capilata)   of the season in Sippican Harbor off Buzzards Bay.  While March presented a couple of early warm days, the weather since has been chilly on the South Coast. But with today’s southwesterly breeze and 60 degree temperatures, the Sippican estuary has sprung to life.
Juvenile Lion’s Mane Jelly in Sippican Harbor
Beyond the sheer beauty of these magnificent creatures and the joy they bring each spring when they appear in Massachusetts, lion’s manes presage another important arrival. Lion’s manes (and other slurpy jellies) form the major food source for the great leviathans of today’s reptilian class.
Massive Female Leatherback Sea Turtle
No, not dinosaurs; even with fictional tales of Jurassic Park, Tyrannosaurus rex remains a creature of the past. But we still have supersized leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) that tip the scales at up to one ton. In order to assume such massive weight, these pelagic sea turtles roam the oceans in search of patches of jelly fish.
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Open Wide! (Mouth of Leatherback Sea Turtle)
Cruising the great wide oceans, leatherbacks cross thousands of miles of emptiness until they discover another concentration of jellies. Yet, they are well designed to allow maximum consumption of prey when they are fortunate enough to find their preferred food source. Note the cartilaginous, downward-pointing spines that line the throat and esophagus to ensure that it’s a one-way trip for any jelly unlucky enough to encounter a feeding leatherback … and they’re always feeding when jellies are in sight.
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Sun and Moon (Jelly) in Buzzards Bay
Today Turtle Journal found not only a lion’s mane, but also the first moon jelly (Aurelia aurita) of the season, caught in the reflection of the morning sun on Sippican Harbor. They, too, present a tasting treat for hungry leatherbacks.
With jelly fish floating through the Buzzards Bay estuary, there is little doubt these massive leviathans will soon arrive in coastal New England waters to partake in the feast.
March madness means something entirely different to the Turtle Journal team. Yes, it’s a culmination of a long winter of preparation. Yes, we must keep our eyes on the ball. And, yes; there’s an awful lot of bouncing around. Not on basketball courts, mind you. But at every natural habitat from wetlands to ocean. This glorious afternoon, with full sunshine, gentle southerly breeze and mid-50s temperature, Turtle Journal ventured to the rich salt marshes of South Wellfleet to check on the emergence of juvenile horseshoe crabs; another important signpost on the road to spring.
Capture of Juvenile Horseshoe Crab
We examined the shallow marsh channels off Blackfish Creek where we usually find the emergence of the first juvenile horseshoe crabs of the year. We had been here a week ago with no sign of activity; not even tiny fish swimming in the channels and playing hide & seek among the marsh reeds. Yet, today we found several tracks of juvenile horseshoe crabs in the oozy bottom. Then, almost impossible to see through the murk, a blurry mud trail betrayed the camouflaged presence of a juvenile specimen, and Don Lewis swept into action with his sampling net.
Massing Juvenile Horseshoe Crab
This youngster tipped the scales at 26 grams with tail (telson) pointed skyward like an exclamation point!Â
Examination of Juvenile Horseshoe Crab
The anterior carapace (prosoma) measured 6.1 centimeters maximum width and 4.2 centimeter long. The posterior (abdominal region or opisthosoma) measured 3.1 centimeters length from hindge to notch and 4.2 centimeters wide. The spiny tail (telson) measured 4.8 centimeters.
Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Compound Eye
Don especially delighted in the clear view of the critter’s compound eyes as illustrated in the photograph above.
Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Ventral View
This ventral view reinforces the impression that folks have that horseshoe crabs, whether juveniles or adults, are an ancient creature; a living fossil. When they molt, and horseshoe crabs like lobsters must molt frequently to grow, the shell splits at the leading ventral edge of the anterior carapace (prosoma), so that the animal can wiggle to freedom, then create and harden a new, larger shell. When you find horseshoe crab shells along the beach, check for this slit to determine whether you have discovered an abandoned shell of a freshly molted individual.
Rusty Colored Substance on Book Gills
On today’s specimen, we notice a rusty coloration on and immediately behind the book gills.
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Release of Juvenile Horseshoe Crab
While finding the first juvenile horseshoe crab of the year is a cherished experience in our rite of spring, it is only exceeded by the joy of releasing that specimen back into the wild once it has yielded a little scientific data. Today’s juvenile slid as gracefully as a horseshoe crab can into the marsh channel and floated down to the bottom. After a minute or so of orientation, it wobbled forward to find the perfect spot under the marsh rim to burrow down for some peace and quiet. Humans are, after all, strange critters that can be taken only in small doses.
Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Ventral View
Turtle Journal confesses to finding horseshoe crabs irresistible. During mating season, which should commence in another month or so, our wading boots get “checked out” by amorous males that get fooled by the enticing dark color and lovely rounded edges. We’re facinated by intricate artistic designs carved on beaches by females and males locked in embrace after depositing eggs at high tide. And there’s nothing so noble, yet comical as a juvenile horseshoe crab that stomps across your palm marching towards freedom. Just for the record, these living fossils are darn good for the tidal ecosystem where they’re constantly tilling and aerating soil with ten walking legs and two feeding pincers. Horseshoe crabs eggs provide the most nutrious food for migrating shorebirds, and their blue blood presents a modern medical and scientific miracle for disease detection, for thwarting bioterrorism and even for facilitating planetary exploration probes. No wonder Turtle Journal delights in marking each spring with the arrival of the next generation of horseshoe crabs!
On Saturday, November 19th, the Turtle Journal team led by Rufus discovered a male torpedo ray that had washed ashore on the eastern side of Loagy Bay opposite Lieutenant Island on Outer Cape Cod. Surprising to most residents, the torpedo ray (Torpedo nobiliana) is a regular sight on Cape Cod bayside shores each Fall as they strand for what still remains unknown reasons. What makes them especially “stunning” is their 220 volts of electric charge!
Male Torpedo Ray (Torpedo nobiliana)
In October and November, our team has discovered beached torpedo rays along bayside Cape Cod beaches from Truro to Sandwich. In November of 2008, we found many torpedo rays that had washed ashore, beginning on Guy Fawkes Day; see http://www.turtlejournal.com/?p=1448 and subsequent postings. The male torpedo ray Rufus sniffed out of the Old Wharf Landing wrack line on Saturday was fully intact without any outward sign of injury. Our necropsy of other Fall beached specimens have likewise pointed to no obvious cause of death, which has suggested that their stranding may be somehow associated with a cold-stunning phenomenon. As faithful Turtle Journal readers know, we see these torpedo ray and also ocean sunfish strandings at the leading edge of cold-stunned sea turtle stranding season each Fall.
Male Torpedo Ray with Claspers
The gender of this specimen can easily be discerned by its claspers pictured above.Â
Large Female Torpedo Ray @ Wellfleet Harbor
For those who may not be familiar with the torpedo ray, a group within which we blissfully counted ourselves until a few years ago, this fish is an electric ray that can deliver a 220-volt charge in a short duration burst. The torpedo ray is a cartilaginous fish … like sharks and skates. Its shape is a round, flat disk with a relatively short, large caudal fin that has two dorsal fins. While this ray can reach 6 feet long and 200 pounds, most torpedo rays taken from the Atlantic fall in the 75 pound range. (We necropsied a 150-pound female torpedo ray this season.) It does not have spines or thorns that are characteristic of common skates. Small eyes are set forward and this ray’s color is brownish or purplish on the dorsal (top) surface and white on the ventral (bottom) side.
Examining Large Female Torpedo Ray in 2008
Habitat for the nocturnal torpedo ray is benthic (bottom of the sea) where it buries itself in the sand during the day. While described as pelagic, torpedo rays can be found mostly along the continental shelf in water from 10 to 350 meters deep. They are not common within inshore waters. This fish is the only electric ray that is found in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and historic records document torpedo rays in Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod Bay, especially the Provincetown area.
Large Female Torpedo Ray from 2008
This specimen was identified as a female with pelvic fins and no claspers.
 Torpedo Ray Egg Sacs
The eggs sacs above were removed from a large, 150-pound female torpedo ray that stranded in Cape Cod Bay this year. Note the varying sizes of the individual eggs within the sacs.Â
Internal Organs of Large Female Torpedo Ray
Two egg sacs were discovered in a band located anterior of the two large liver lobes. Factoid: Torpedo ray females bear live young.
 Section from Left Electrical Organ of Large Torpedo Ray
The torpedo ray has two kidney-shaped electrical organs that make up 20% of its weight and are located on the pectoral fins. They generate a power equivalent to 220 volts that stuns prey with a burst of electric current. Its prey includes flounder, silver hake fish, small sharks such as dogfish, eels, worms and crustaceans. After stunning its prey, the torpedo ray guides food with its pectoral fins toward its protruding mouth for ingestion.
Torpedo Ray Mouth
Torpedo rays have no significant commercial value today. Once upon a time when Southeast Massachusetts was the OPEC of its day, providing the energy that lit the entire world, liver oil of torpedo rays was considerd equal to the best sperm whale oil for illumination. Some in those days said that torpedo ray oil cured cramps if rubbed externally and stomach ailments when taken internally. We can attest to the fact that the torpedo ray is one awfully oily fish that we had to wrestle into place to take measurements and capture documentary images. (You’re right it was mucus and not oil, but the allusion wouldn’t have worked if we had said “slimy†rather than “oily.â€)
“Wow! I went out to the tidal flats of Outer Cape Cod for the very first time, and you wouldn’t believe all the wonderful things I found. My dad shot this video of the critters I got a chance to meet, but he missed the best one, though.
“While he and mom were wading out into the Fresh Brook Run, I spotted a snoozing duck. Shush!! Please don’t tell the nice folks at Mass Audubon. They’re my friends and I don’t want them to be mad at me. You see, it’s in my DNA makeup and I have little control over my genetic compulsion at this tender age. Dad and mom are trying to teach me, and I’m sure I’ll learn soon.
“But BOY! was it fun to get down on all fours on the sandbar and snake-walk ever so slowly toward that floating duck. I crept silently, step by step, inch by inch. I held my breath. And then … I pounced.
“With my soft mouth I snatched the duck by the nape and high-footed in unbridled puppy pride to show off my trophy to dad and mom. The duck began dancing in mid air as I pranced toward them, splashing in the shallows.Â
“I suspected I may have done something wrong when I saw the shocked expression on their faces. Dad calmly said, ‘Rufus, drop the duck. Leave!’
“I opened my mouth and out popped the frantic duck who quick-walked on water … flap, flap, flap, flap … until he got airborne.
“So, I hope you’ll forgive me when I confess that it was really great fun … that I will try ever so hard never to do it again.
“Look deep inside my eyes. I’m so sorry. How could you doubt this innocent face?”
