Not a true crab, the horseshoe crab is actually more closely related to spiders, scorpions, and ticks than to other crustaceans. This "living fossil" has been around since well before the dinosaurs. Its large eyes and its unique blood have made it uniquely valuable for biomedical research.
Spring high tides trigger a massive migration of the Atlantic genus, Limulus polyphemus onto sheltered Delaware and New Jersey beaches. The sand can be piled deep with spawning crabs, and females can lay as many as 88,000 eggs each season. Migratory shorebirds rely on these abundant eggs to fuel their journey from South America to the Arctic Circle.
However, horseshoe crabs have become valuable as bait for commercial fishermen, who can catch tens of thousands in one day. Since 1990, the horseshoe crab population of the Delaware Bay has been reduced by half, and the number of shore birds has also greatly declined. Scientists, biologists, and fishermen are now working to restore a balance that has been in place for millions of years.
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