This week’s Marine Monday highlights one of the ocean’s most ancient organisms, the Atlantic Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus). Deemed a “living fossil”, these incredible animals have been on Earth for over 500 million years (that’s approximately 300 million years before dinosaurs)! Only four species of horseshoe crab remain, our Atlantic Horseshoe crab, the Japanese Horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus) and two species found off the coast of India (Tachypleus gigas and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda). We stumbled upon these mating horseshoe crabs out among the mangroves. Male horseshoe crabs are smaller than females, and possess modified pinchers in order to attach to the females shell during mating. However, humans need not have any fear of a pinch from these friendly fossils! These crazy creatures are not a crab at all! Horseshoe crabs belong to the same family as spiders, scorpions and ticks, and therefore, cannot not pinch you like a crab. In fact, horseshoe crabs are actually pivotal to keeping humans happy and healthy. Horseshoe crab blood contains a copper protein in lieu of the iron found in human blood. Therefore, horseshoe crabs’ blood in actually blue instead of red (think of how a copper turns blue-green with time). In addition to the cool color of their blood, horseshoe crab blood also contains a type of blood cells used to defend the animal against bacterial infections. In the medical field, scientists use horseshoe crab blood to test for the presence of bacteria in the pharmaceuticals we use daily. Horseshoe crabs are not harmed in the process and are in fact returned to the ocean after a portion of their blood is extracted. Not only are horseshoe crabs important to people, they are an integral part of the coastal food chain. Horseshoe crab eggs are a major source of nutrients for migratory birds such as the Red Knot.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 14:19:59 +0000
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