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Atlantic Horseshoe Crab

Limulus polyphemus

Description:

This group of animals is also known as horsefoot, or saucepan. Some people call the horseshoe crab a "helmet crab", but this common name is more frequently applied to a true crab, a malacostracan, of the species Telmessus cheiragonus. The term "king crab" is sometimes used for horseshoe crabs, but it is more usually applied to a group of decapod crustaceans. Despite their common name, they are not crabs but are related to arachnids (spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites), and are presumably the closest living relatives of the now extinct trilobites. Horseshoe crabs are often referred to as living fossils, as they have changed little in the last 445 million years.

Habitat:

Horseshoe crabs are most commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the northern Atlantic coast of North America.

Notes:

When we discovered this horeshoe crab it was half way buried in the sand as in the 2nd photo.

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4 Comments

LaurieWinters
LaurieWinters 12 years ago

Thanks, CJ! :)

CJulen
CJulen 12 years ago

Love the video! :)

LaurieWinters
LaurieWinters 12 years ago

Thanks very much.

MickGrant
MickGrant 12 years ago

Great video and photos

LaurieWinters
Spotted by
LaurieWinters

Florida, USA

Spotted on Apr 17, 2010
Submitted on Oct 4, 2011

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