Horseshoe Crabs

Horseshoe crabs are really very fascinating creatures, but most people underestimate Horseshoe crabs are really very fascinating creatures, but most people underestimate them. Take, for example, the horseshoe crab’s blood. When not exposed to air, it is a cloudy white. When it is, it turns bluish. It is used to clean medicines and other things by clotting up the bacteria and endotoxins and turning it into a gel. If the clots occur, the medicine is deemed unhealthy. This process is also used on blood donations and anything going in or out of a patient.The horseshoe crabs are caught in shallower water using a clam rake, and in deeper water using a dredge. If any horseshoe crabs are harmed in the process of catching, they are returned to the water immediately.Horseshoe crabs are not crabs, as their name suggests. They actually belong to a group called arthropods, and are more closely related to insects, spiders, scorpions, and ticks than crabs. They live an average of 17-18 years. Their diet consists of marine worms, algae, dead fish, and small clams. They chew by mincing their food up with their legs!Some people call them living fossils, because they have been around since the dinosaurs. Though they have survived so much, horseshoe crabs may not survive to the end of the century. Will we be seeing these beauties forever, or will they become extinct and join their other mates?You can find more information about horseshoe crabs here:

http://www.beach-net.com/horseshoe/Bayhorsecrab.html http://www.amnh.org/sciencebulletins/biobulletin/biobulletin/story788.html

http://www.ocean.udel.edu/horseshoecrab/History/biology.html