User:Cape cod naturalist/Sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) is a chelicerate arthropod, therefore it is more closely related to spiders and scorpions than crabs. They are most commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the northern Atlantic coast of North America. A main area of annual migration is the Delaware Bay. Stray individuals occasionally turn up in Europe.[1] Many fish farms raise horseshoe crabs to be sold to the public as a delicacy. They can grow up to 20 inches (51 cm), on a diet of molluscs, annelid worms, and other benthic invertebrates. In captivity, its diet should be supplemented with meaty items such as pieces of squid and shrimp (Foster and Smith, 2004). Its mouth is located in the middle of the underside of the cephalothorax. A pair of pincers (chelicerae) for seizing food are found on each side of the mouth.
[edit] Closely Related Species
Three other species from the same family in the Indian and Pacific Oceans are also called "horseshoe crabs."[2] The Japanese horseshoe crab (Tachypleus gigas) is found in the Seto Inland Sea, and is considered an endangered species because of loss of habitat. Two other species occur along the east coast of India: Tachypleus tridentatus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda [3] A research project to protect them is on in Chandipur.
