全球中华鲎资源保护现状及对策建议

鲎是古老的海洋节肢动物。中华鲎(Tachypleus tridentatus)是世界现存4种鲎中体型最大的一种, 是河口生态系统的标志物种, 同时其血液被用于生产医用检验试剂――鲎试剂。中华鲎的自然地理分布范围相当狭窄, 仅局限于日本濑户内海向南延伸至印度尼西亚爪哇岛北岸以北的太平洋西岸海域, 其中在中国东岸和日本南部海域的历史产量较高。自20世纪50年代以来中华鲎种群数量出现了显著减少, 2019年中华鲎在IUCN红色名录中的濒危等级正式更新为濒危(EN), 明确了中华鲎资源呈现全球性衰退的状态, 究其原因可归纳为鲎生境破坏和过度捕捞两个方面。在开展鲎资源保护的实践工作中, 作者深刻反思当前鲎资源保护在海洋保护区划定、增殖放流及科普和野生动物保护法宣传中存在的问题并提出相应建议, 包括加快完善种群基线数据, 制定标准化种群和生境基线监测指南, 构建科学放流体系等, 以期推进全球范围内的中华鲎资源保护与科学管理。

Global conservation of Tachypleus tridentatus: Present status and recommendations

Horseshoe crabs are an ancient group of marine arthropods. The Chinese horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus) is the largest among the four extant species. Tachypleus tridentatus is regarded as the indicator species of estuarine ecosystems. Meanwhile, its blood is used to manufacture biomedical testing kits, i.e., Tachypleus amebocyte lysate. The geographic distribution of T. tridentatus is constrained to the western Pacific Ocean, ranging from the Seto Inland Sea of Japan southwards to the North Jawa waters. A high historical population size of T. tridentatus was recorded in eastern China and southern Japan. Tachypleus tridentatus population decline has become apparent since the 1950s, and the species has been upgraded to “Endangered (EN)” under the IUCN Red List in 2019, depicting its global declining trend. Habitat destruction and overfishing are identified as the primary threats. We reexamined current conservation measures targeting T. tridentatus, including marine protected area establishment, captive breeding and restocking, and awareness programs and regulations. We provide recommendations to enhance the conservation and management of global T. tridentatus populations through: (1) expediting population baseline data collection; (2) developing standards for population/habitat monitoring; and (3) establishing scientifically sound restocking programs.