Horseshow Crab

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molt their shells in order to grow, and must molt 16-17 times before reaching maturity, a process that takes about 10 years. Since they are so slow to mature, horseshoe crabs are vulnerable to declining population pressure (ASMFC 1998; ERDG 2003).
The horseshoe crab is an ecologically important species that fills several niches in the Delaware Bay habitat. The Delaware Bay is the largest spawning ground for the horseshoe crab, and several species of migratory shorebirds depend on the millions of eggs produced in spawning season to fuel them with enough energy to complete their summer migration to the arctic from South American waters. Horseshoe crabs are also a very important food source for sea turtles that also spawn in the Delaware Bay. Food availability is critical to these turtles, which are federally listed as a threatened species as per the US Endangered Species Act (Berkson and Shuster 1999).
Horseshoe crabs are also vitally important to public health. Their blood is used to detect the presence of pathogenic endotoxins in injectable and implantable medical devices. The chemical Limulus Ameobocyte Lysate (LAL) can be created only with horseshoe crab blood, and the LAL test is currently the standard and most effective test in detecting the presence of endotoxins pathogenic to humans. Horseshoe crab blood is also being researched for other biomedical uses, such as an anticancer agent, an anticlotting agent, and for its spermicidal tendencies (ASMFC 1998; Berkson and Shuster 1999...