A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
The entire body of the horseshoe crab is protected by a hard shell. They have two large compound eyes and multiple smaller simple ones atop the carapace. Beneath the carapace they look quite similar to a large spider. They have five pairs of legs for walking, swimming and moving food into the mouth. The long, straight, rigid tails can be used to flip themselves over if they are turned upside down, so a horseshoe crab with a broken tail is more susceptible to desiccation or predation.
My dad used to collect the shells of these creatures!!
You might want to consider adding this spotting to the mission "Coastal Wildlife of Northeastern U.S." here: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8305...
Daniel thanks for sharing such incredible spotting.. A real learning lesson..!!
Spotted on Aug 17, 2011
Submitted on Aug 17, 2011
