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Horseshoe Crab Survey Response

The Fish and Wildlife Research Institute depends on the public to help identify horseshoe crab spawning beaches. From the April 2002 inception of the survey to February 29, 2008, we have received 958 online reports, 326 e-mail reports, 59 personal communications, and 439 telephone reports. The map below shows numbers of reports (regardless of number of horseshoe crabs sighted) from each county. Note that the number of reports from Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Manatee counties are high, not because there are more horseshoe crabs there, but due to the location of our lab in St. Petersburg. The accompanying table shows the number of reports in each number class.

NUMBER OF REPORTS FOR EACH ABUNDANCE CATEGORY
County	No number given	1–24 crabs	25–49 crabs	50–99 crabs	100–499 crabs	500–999 crabs	1000+ crabs	Total # of reports
Bay	2	20	1		3			26
Brevard	5	75	16	8	7		4	115
Broward		6			1			7
Charlotte	5	14	3	4	10	1	1	38
Citrus		4						4
Collier	3	16	1	1	3			24
Dade		23						23
Dixie	1	8	1	2	4	1	2	19
Duval		10	1					11
Escambia							1	1
Flagler		7						7
Franklin	4	57	11	5	15	4	3	101
Gulf	1	19		2	2		1	25
Hernando		8	1		1			10
Hillsborough	26	68	18	16	34	9	10	181
Indian River	1	4						5
Lee	10	61	8	3	6	1	1	90
Levy	2	37	8	9	6			62
Manatee	12	65	14	11	16		7	125
Martin	1	10			2			13
Monroe	5	54	3	1	4			67
Nassau		13						13
Okaloosa		9						9
Palm Beach	2	15	3	1				21
Pasco	3	27	2	1	2	1	1	37
Pinellas	47	210	46	37	50	7	7	404
Santa Rosa	1							1
Sarasota	1	25	5	1	2		1	35
St. Johns	1	12	2					15
St. Lucie	3	8	1		1		1	14
Taylor	2	7	2	1	1			13
Volusia	3	26	1	1	4			35
Wakulla	2	18	2	1	1			24
Walton		1						1

*Totals are less than number of reports due to duplication (e.g., reported both online and by phone) or no location given.

Please visit the Horseshoe Crab Section to learn more.