HSC 18S Dataset

This study describes the microbial eukaryotic assemblages of sediment from three distinct subsites and in the gut and feces of juvenile horseshoe crabs at Plumb Beach, Jamaica Bay, New York, a key nursery site for this species, whose populations are in decline. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) with 18s primers was used to compare eukaryotic communities from sediments from a tidal creek habitat with abundant juvenile crabs, adjacent tidal flats where crab densities are patchy, and a disturbed area lacking juvenile crabs. We examined eukaryotic DNA from crab gut and fecal samples and compared it with taxa from the surrounding sediment. Common taxa identified in sediments included Selenidium, Podocopida, and Enoplida. The tidal creek revealed a unique assemblage of eukaryotes and higher alpha diversity than the sites with fewer crabs. Crab gut and fecal samples both had significantly lower alpha diversity than sediments. Digenia, Enoplida and Desmodorida were common in the fecal samples, and Orbinidae, Calanoida and Vigna in the gut samples. Kryptoperidinium and Chromodorea were present in both. This study is the first attempt to use NGS to understand the distribution or diet of juvenile horseshoe crabs or to characterize the sediment eukaryome of Plumb Beach. Given the low survival, high habitat specificity ongoing habitat loss and lack of data on resource use for juvenile horseshoe crabs, these results could help inform ecosystem management and habitat protection for this vulnerable species.