Horseshoe Crabs!

1. Horseshoe Crabs! MakennaGilhuber(:

2. 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.

3. Human Effect • Taking away or changing habitats • Bleeding • Gathering for bait

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.