The Horseshoe Crab

Way back when, even before your parents were born, Papaw had a chance to see a bizarre but wonderful creature at the ocean’s shore. I was travelling for the college in a music group. That day we were in Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay. Since I had never even seen the ocean, I got up really early and went to the beach. There I found this creature – the horseshoe crab.

They are not really crabs but are more closely related to spiders and ticks. They have 4 pairs of walking legs and a pair that act like pinchers to grab their food. Their favorite foods are sea worms, mollusks (like clams) and other crustaceans.

They normally like living in deeper waters but come close to shore to spawn. They can lay 20,000 eggs each night for several days. That is where Papaw saw them. They are fun to watch. They can even swim upside-down! They are only found in the Atlantic Ocean. They can be found from Maine all the way down to Mexico. They are sometimes called “living fossils”. That’s because their fossils look just like they do today. They have 9 eyes and can see very well. It helps them find their food.

Horseshoe crabs have helped us develop medicines. They have blue blood. There is a special chemical in their blood that can tell us if vaccines or other drugs are ready to give to sick people. Scientist draw out some blood and then release it back into the ocean. It usually doesn’t hurt them. Still, we need to be careful and take care of them. They need clean water and safe beaches to lay their eggs.

(https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2020/05/19/11-facts-horseshoe-crabs-will-blow-mind)

I hope you like learning about horseshoe crabs. Here’s a short video about them.

Until next time,

Love Papaw.