Horseshoe Crabs! Makenna Gilhuber(:

History and Value Horseshoe crabs are said to be “living fossils”. They are about 350 million years old, coming around in the Ordovician period. Horseshoe crabs are valued pretty highly. Their blood is special. It contains amebocytes. Amebocytes play a role similar to white blood cells. It is used to detect bacterial endotoxins.

Taking away or changing habitats Bleeding Gathering for bait Human Effect Taking away or changing habitats Bleeding Gathering for bait

Habitat Changes People can greatly effect the population of horseshoe crabs just by changing the coastline. When people take away sediment and sand from beaches, the crabs have less space to bury their eggs. That means their eggs have even less of a chance for survival.

Bleeding Bleeding the crabs for medical purposes isn’t a huge threat. The mortality rate of horseshoe crabs during the process is from 3% to 15%. That’s not a huge number, but it’s still helping the population decline.

Bait There are restrictions on this now, but in the nineties, it was a total horseshoe crab free-for-all! During that short period of time, a majority of the population disappeared. Scientists are looking for an alternative, synthetic bait.

Future Outlook The future outlook of the horseshoe crab can be looked at as positive. A lot of restrictions have been put on using them for bait. Scientists are researching the alternative bait. A lot of people are passionate to help them survive. The horseshoe crab is essential for the survival of many species like the red knot bird and the loggerhead turtle. Bleeding them isn’t a major threat, so I’m sure that will continue. It won’t exterminate them, but it will slightly slow the population increase that is underway.