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Feeding Capacity of Horseshoe Crab (Tachypleus gigas)
Nurul Fatin Syafiqah binti Mohd Affendy
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof Dr. Faridah Mohamad
Bachelor of Applied Science
(Biodiversity Conservation and Management)
School of Marine and Environmental Sciences
University Malaysia Terengganu
Tachypleus gigas (Chelicerata: Merostomata) lives in estuarine and coastal
shallow habitat, including Setiu Lagoon. Their diet is mainly molluscs, which is
abundant in Setiu and collected by locals as food and also sale items for income.
This study to determine the feeding capacity of male and female T. gigas on
different type of bivalve. The experiment was conducted by giving four different
type of bivalve such as cockle, mud clam, oyster, and mussel with the amount
of ten to both male and female T. gigas. Data of feeding capacity was recorded
at 8 am and 7 pm for 14 days. Results showed that feeding capacity of T. gigas
are high towards mussel with five individuals followed by mud clam, cockle and
oyster. Maximum individual of bivalve that can be eaten both male and female
on that day was two. Thus, conservation efforts of T. gigas in Setiu will not
affect the local people.
1752 | UMT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY 2018