Horseshoe Crab Optimization: A Novel Nature-inspired Metaheuristic based on Spawning and Satellite Male Aggregation Behaviours
Alqafaan A. Al Sayyed O. Batiha B. Bektemyssova G. Montazeri Z. Dehghani M. Malik O.P. Eguchi K.
31 January 2026Intelligent Network and Systems Society
International Journal of Intelligent Engineering and Systems
2026#19Issue 1352 - 367 pp.
A novel population-based metaheuristic algorithm, termed Horseshoe Crab Optimization (HCO), inspired by the reproductive behaviour of horseshoe crabs (Limulidae) in tidal ecosystems, is introduced in this paper. HCO models two key biological mechanisms: spawning aggregation and satellite male behaviour. Spawning aggregation, occurring during high-tide periods, drives the population toward favourable regions for egg-laying and serves as an effective global exploration mechanism, while satellite male behaviour, in which males position themselves around high-quality females and adjust their locations precisely, is modelled as a targeted local exploitation process. This mechanism facilitates focused search in regions containing high-quality solutions and, through the incorporation of stochastic components, prevents premature convergence to local optima. The mathematical formulation of HCO incorporates tidal-phase modulation, adaptive convergence factors, and stochastic intensities, enabling dynamic transitions between exploration and exploitation phases. Each member of the population represents a candidate solution, and updates are governed by movement rules inspired by reproductive behaviour along with a fitness-based acceptance criterion, ensuring both solution diversity and convergence stability. HCO is evaluated on 23 benchmark functions, including unimodal, high-dimensional multimodal, and fixed-dimensional multimodal problems, and its performance compared with nine state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms. The results demonstrate that HCO achieves first-rank performance in 20 out of 23 functions, exhibiting superior convergence speed, solution accuracy, and robustness, thereby establishing it as a reliable and versatile framework for addressing complex, high-dimensional optimization problems.
Exploitation , Exploration , Horseshoe crab , Metaheuristic , Optimization , Satellite male , Spawning aggregation
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Department of Cyber Security, Al Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, 11733, Jordan
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Jadara University, Irbid, 21110, Jordan
Department of Computer Engineering, International Information Technology University, Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Shiraz University of Technology, Shiraz, 7155713876, Iran
Department of Electrical and Software Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, T2N 1N4, AB, Canada
Department of Information Electronics, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Japan
Department of Cyber Security
Department of Mathematics
Department of Mathematics
Department of Computer Engineering
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Department of Electrical and Software Engineering
Department of Information Electronics
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026