The Limulus burrow in the sand and remain sedentary for long periods.  My guess is that that they
climbed aboard looking for food or a place to mate and hung on for awhile.  Or, just a fluke.

David Kirsh wrote:

> Marlo,
>
> You're right! My four riders of the coupled Limulus are Urosalpinx
> tampaensis. I hadn't even considered that because of the range given in the
> books (west coast of Florida). I found them at the ramp at Route 520. Their
> siphonal canals are longer than the illustrated ones in the id books; guess
> this is just variability.
>
> So what were these 4 doing?
>
> A) Desperately trying to find a way back to Tampa and unfortunately caught
> "the crabs" when someone told them to fly United.
>
> B) Got tired of the long lines at Orlando's amusement parks and decided to
> try the local water sports.
>
> Any other ideas?
>
> David Kirsh
> Durham, NC

--
Marlo
Merritt Island, Florida
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