“If you want to see an endangered species, get up and look in the mirror…” John Young Here ye, here ye! The American horseshoe crab outlived the dinosaurs and has survived four previous mass extinctions, but is now menaced by the pharmaceutical industry, fishing … Horseshoe Crabs Endangered by Biomedical Bloodletting. Horseshoe crabs are believed to live about 20 years in the wild. Here ye, here ye! We’ll get to the crabs (they aren’t really crabs) and how they save lives (so many lives!) Horseshoe crabs have been around for more than 300 million years, making them even older than dinosaurs. The horseshoe crab is valuable to the tune of half a billion dollars a year to the biomedical and commercial fishing industries. Because horseshoe crabs are so important as a food source for shorebirds, as bait, and for human health, their harvest is closely managed. Horseshoe Crabs: Managing a Resource for Birds, Bait, and Blood. Horseshoe Crabs, the Red Knot and a Broken Rung. Females often grow to be larger than males, typically averaging about 18 to 19 inches from head to tail, compared to 14 to 15 inches for males. Delaware: This is a story about horseshoe crabs, but we’re going to start by talking about a bird, the red knot, because that’s what people noticed first. We hereby proclaim the horseshoe crab the endangered species of 2018 in Plymouth. Horseshoe crabs have been around for more than 300 million years, making them even older than dinosaurs. Horseshoe crabs are native to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean throughout North America. The wild population of horseshoe crab had dropped by over 90% between 2000 and 2009. Global: In a new study (Shu et al. The Atlantic horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus). 2018), we were able to record horseshoe crab tracks from a succession of rocks that spanned the great Permian-Triassic (PT) mass extinction 252 million years ago. July 31, 2018. They look like prehistoric crabs, but are actually more closely related to scorpions and spiders. Delaware Bay has the largest population of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) in the world. Horseshoe Crabs Living Through A Crisis. Renewed Efforts to Save Horseshoe Crabs Give Imperilled Species Lease of Life. We hereby proclaim the horseshoe crab the endangered species of 2018 in Plymouth. Horseshoe crabs are living fossils. CURRENT THREATS, STATUS, AND CONSERVATION. A study in 2012 indicated that the number of local juvenile horseshoe crabs only amounts to less than 10,000. They look like prehistoric crabs, but are actually more closely related to scorpions and spiders. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock Horseshoe crabs have been walking along the bottom of our oceans, bays, and sounds for millions of years. Do you know what a horseshoe crab is? The ancient horseshoe crab is nearly endangered but plays a vital role in common medicine practices. (4,500 juvenile Tri-spine horseshoe crabs and 3,000 mangrove horseshoe crabs) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: “If you want to see an endangered species, get up and look in the mirror…” John Young. Horseshoe crabs are highly valued by conch and eel fisherman, who use them as bait. We hereby proclaim the horseshoe crab the endangered species of 2018 in Plymouth. When you look at a horseshoe crab, you're looking a half billion years into the past. Have you ever been lucky enough to see one? Horseshoe crabs are “living fossils”, the last survivors of a group of organisms that first appeared in the fossil record some 30 million years ago. 2018-09-12T14:50:17Z ... River is dedicated to the protection and conservation of HSCs and has been an advocate for the humane treatment of horseshoe crabs for more than 25 years. Just last year, the subcommittee decided that the American horseshoe crab is 'vulnerable' to extinction, which is one notch below 'endangered'. Additionally, horseshoe crab blood contains a substance called Limulus amebocyte lysate (also known as LAL), which clots in the presence of bacteria.