Horseshoe crab monitoring and tagging

Horseshoe crabs are one of the oldest living species of animals in the world. These “living fossils” have existed in the same, nearly unchanged form for more than 400 million years, even before the dinosaurs. Despite their names, they are not true crabs but are more closely related to arachids such as spiders and scorpions.

There are four species of Horseshoe crabs, with only one of them occuring in North America. They primarily breed in soft, muddy shallow coastal waters. Breeding season lasts during spring and summer months.

Horseshoe crabs are a vital part of the coastal ecological community. Their eggs form an important source of nutrition for migrating shore birds, so much so that many bird species coincide their migration with the horseshoe crab spawning cycle. Horseshoe crabs are also extremely valuable to the human biomedical industry. Their unique copper-based blue blood is used as a sterile base to test for toxins for almost every vaccine ever produced. They have been subjected to extensive blood-harvesting over the years causing their numbers to currently be in Near threatened status. Yearly monitoring and tagging plays a critical role to help aid the long term survival of this unique species.