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The Anatomical Measurements of the Digestive Tract of Tachypleus
gigas from Johor
Nursyahira binti Saad
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof Dr. Faridah binti Mohamad
Bachelor of Applied Science
(Biodiversity Conservation and Management)
School of Marine and Environmental Science
University Malaysia Terengganu
Tachypleus gigas is known as coastal horseshoe crab. Foregut, midgut and
hindgut are the main part of their digestive tract. However, there were very
few literatures on the anatomy of digestive tract of horseshoe crab. This study
determines the size of male and female T. gigas digestive tract. Thirty four
samples of digestive tracts were collected from Johor and UMT Hatchery and
preserved in 10% formalin. The length and diameter of the various parts of
digestive tract were measured. Crop has the largest diameter (12.36 ± 3.62
mm) while anus was the smallest (2.22 ± 1.31 mm). Stomach was the longest
(9.71 ± 2.92 cm) while gizzard was the shortest (1.76 ± 0.58 cm). In general,
females have larger size of digestive tracts compared to males. The finding is
essential for producing perfect size of pellet for T. gigas feeding in captivity.
Increasing the number of samples was recommended for future study to obtain
more reliable result.
1746 | UMT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY 2018