It looks like a crab and, in fact, is popularly known as the Chinese horseshoe crab, Japanese horseshoe crab or three-spined horseshoe crab; for scientists, Tachypleus tridentatus. It is an endangered species (listed as ‘threatened’ on the IUCN Red List) and has such curious characteristics as having blue blood (haemolymph). But in reality, phylogenetically speaking, it is closer to spiders and scorpions than to crabs.
The image of a attractive specimen of Tachypleus tridentatus calmly sailing on the seabed in the protected waters of Pangatalan Island, in the Philippines, in the company of a trio of equally golden horse mackerels, has earned Laurent Ballesta the highest distinction in the edition of 2023 of the international Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, organized by the Natural History Museum of London (United Kingdom), one of the oldest and most prestigious competitions in the world in nature photography. The award-winning image has been titled The Golden Horseshoe.
The Natural History Museum of London highlights that Laurent Ballesta, who already won this award two years ago, focused this time on “some extraordinary animals, which have hardly changed for approximately 100 million years, as they slink through the warm waters , feeding, mating, and even being a home for other animals, showing them in a whole new light.”
Looking almost like an extraterrestrial spaceship, the arthropod’s golden shell gliding through the dark waters took the panel of judges by surprise, say the organizers of this photographic call.
Kathy Moran, president of the jury and editor, explained that “seeing a horseshoe crab so vibrantly alive in its natural habitat, in such a hauntingly beautiful way, is astonishing.” “We are facing an ancient species, highly threatened and also critical for human health. This photo is luminescent,” indicates the Natural History Museum, referring to the exploitation of horseshoe crabs to obtain medically useful products.
The three-spined horseshoe crab is found dispersed in several areas in the tropical waters of Southeast Asia. There are actually four living species of horseshoe crabs, three of which can be found in the waters of the Pacific Ocean and one along the Atlantic coast of North America.
Horseshoe crabs have a hard outer shell that is divided into two parts, while underneath they have five pairs of legs that end in tiny claws that they use to walk and capture prey.
But the four living species are only a fraction of the diversity of a group of animals whose evolutionary history goes back a surprisingly long time. The first animals that superficially resemble horseshoe crabs appeared back in the Devonian, about 400 million years ago, when complex plants barely managed to reach land.
These early animals had the characteristic curved, shield-shaped shell, but whether or not they are classified as horseshoe crabs is open to debate.
In any case, 300 million years ago there were fossil animals that did present the double shield characteristic of modern animals. Appearing during the Carboniferous, many of these first species did not live in marine environments like today’s horseshoe crabs, but were freshwater species.
When it comes specifically to the three-spined horseshoe crab, there is a fossil from Lebanon that dates back 100 million years and is believed to be in the same group as the living species. This means that the ancestors of the beautiful golden arthropod photographed by Laurent swam in warm, shallow seas while Tyrannosaurus rex stalked the land and pterosaurs soared in the skies.
But despite their incredible evolutionary history dating back hundreds of millions of years, these ancient arthropods are threatened. Their blue blood is essential for vaccine development, as it is used to detect potentially dangerous bacterial contamination. In addition to this, many horseshoe crabs are fished as bait to capture other more valuable species.
This causes hundreds of thousands of animals to be slaughtered each year. Combined with habitat destruction and ocean pollution, the future of all four living species is now at risk. In many parts of the world, efforts are being made to protect animals, with plans to replace them in the biomedical sector and measures to protect their breeding grounds, recalls the Natural History Museum in London.
In this same call for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2023, the first prize for Young Photographer of the Year 2023 has gone to Carmel Bechler (17 years old), from Israel, for her striking image of owls nesting in an abandoned building on the side of the road . The glow of neon lights passing by the owls as they watch from their shelter highlights the growing tension between humans and wildlife as we encroach on their habitats.
In the window of an abandoned building there was a picture of two owls as the red and yellow lights of cars passed by in the foreground.
“I hope to share with my photography that the beauty of the natural world is all around us, even in places where we least expect it, we just need to open our eyes and minds,” explains Carmel Bechler in statements released by the Natural History Museum in London. .
In the Animal Behavior: Amphibians and Reptiles category, the winning image in this edition of the WPY was the one titled The Banquet of the Tadpoles, presented by Juan Jesús González Ahumada (Málaga, 1971). “González Ahumada observed toad tadpoles feasting on a dead fledgling sparrow. Common toad tadpoles have varied diets of algae, vegetation, and small swimming invertebrates. As they grow, they become more carnivorous, so when it arrives a banquet like this, they make the most of it,” explains the Natural History Museum in London.
In the Wetlands section, the image awarded this year by the WPY was the one titled The Dead River, by Joan de la Malla, which shows the polluted Ciliwung River in the city of Jakarta (Indonesia). “It is often difficult to visualize the enormity of the human footprint. Seeing the river winding through the city, this small touch of nature rendered useless by our waste, underscores both our need for nature and our disdain.” Kathy Moran, president of the WPY 2023 jury. Joan de la Malla (Barcelona, ??1982) is a photographer specialized in nature, biologist and naturalist.
“Almost all major cities in the world are on the banks of a river. This photo speaks to people around the world and is an important and thought-provoking reminder that, despite all the advances in technology and infrastructure, we still depend on and are at the mercy of the river veins that feed us. However, we pollute our waters and try to control uncontrollable forces, such as the direction of a river, its ebb and flow, its flooding.” Celina Chien, artist and storyteller.
This year’s contest, which attracted nearly 50,000 participants from 95 countries, once again showcases some of the most extraordinary images of wildlife, behaviors and human impact, including animals evacuated due to the war in Ukraine, the Amazing moment of a snow leopard chasing a pallas cat and a bee working hard to build their nest.
Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum in London, said: As well as “inspiring absolute awe and awe, this year’s winning images present compelling evidence of our impact on nature, both positive and negative; global pledges must pass to action to turn the tide of nature’s decline.