AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/AJWEP026140093
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Biochemical and ecotoxicological characterization of Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda

Mohammad Simul Bhuyan1* ,  Mohammad Tarikul Islam1 ,  Mushfiq Hasan2 ,  Sanofar Khokher3
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1 Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
2 Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, Bangladesh
3 Centre for Conservation of Marine Research, National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
AJWEP, 026140093 https://doi.org/10.36922/AJWEP026140093
Received: 31 March 2026 | Revised: 11 April 2026 | Accepted: 14 April 2026 | Published online: 18 May 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda is an ecologically important horseshoe crab inhabiting estuarine and mangrove systems, yet its biochemical composition and contaminant status remain poorly documented in the northern Bay of Bengal. This study established a preliminary baseline nutritional and ecotoxicological profile of C. rotundicauda collected from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Proximate composition, major minerals, and trace metals were quantified using standard analytical procedures, and descriptive visual analyses were applied to evaluate internal metal distribution and nutrient-to-metal association patterns. The specimen exhibited a moisture-rich (87.40%) biochemical profile, with protein as the dominant organic fraction (7.60%), followed by ash, amino acids, lipids, and carbohydrates. Its mineral composition was characterized by relatively high sodium (0.60%), with low calcium (0.20%) and magnesium (0.08%) concentrations. Among trace metals, copper (149.00 mg/kg) and zinc (52.30 mg/kg) dominated the internal metal burden, producing the hierarchy: copper > zinc > lead > cadmium > mercury. Lead (2.40 mg/kg) and cadmium (2.20 mg/kg) exceeded commonly cited food safety limits, whereas mercury remained extremely low (3.4 × 10−2 mg/kg). Nutrient-to-metal association analysis further showed that copper had the strongest associations with protein, amino acids, ash, and lipid, indicating a physiologically structured metal partitioning rather than random accumulation. Although based on a single specimen, this study provides one of the first integrated biochemical and ecotoxicological baselines for C. rotundicauda from coastal Bangladesh. The findings support its potential use in seafood risk screening, coastal pollution surveillance, and future bioindicator-based monitoring of estuarine habitats.

Keywords
Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda
Proximate composition
Heavy metals
Nutrient–metal interactions
Bioaccumulation
Bangladesh coastline
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no financial or personal conflicts of interest that could have influenced this work.
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