Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
If you're a Jersey Shore beach-goer than you are for sure familiar with horseshoe crabs!
While a horseshoe crab is no spring chicken, it is also NOT a crab. These “living fossils” are more closely related to spiders and scorpions.
Horseshoe crabs hold an important role in the coastal ecosystem. Loggerhead sea turtles often snack on horseshoe crabs and horseshoe crab's eggs are an important food source for migrating shorebirds and fish.
In fact, horseshoe crabs lay millions of eggs annually along the shorelines. But despite their reproductive abilities, horseshoe crabs are considered “Near Threatened” by the IUCN Red List.
Horseshoe crabs are in high demand. They are used as bait by conch and eel fisherman, but they also hold a surprising secret. They have blue blood that contains "limulus amebocyte lysate" or "LAL."
LAL actually allows a horseshoe crab’s blood to clot when in the presence of bacteria. This attribute makes horseshoe crabs valuable to the pharmaceutical and medical industries. In fact, horseshoe crab blood was key to making COVID-19 vaccines!
Each summer, Adventure Aquarium partners with the Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Survey organization, other wildlife conservation groups and volunteers to take count of the horseshoe crabs on the beaches. This data helps gain insight to population status and trends ensuring their place and importance in our ecosystem.
So, the next time you’re taking a stroll on the beach, and see a horseshoe crab stuck upside down, be sure to gently flip it over and let it go on its merry way!
If you're a Jersey Shore beach-goer than you are for sure familiar with horseshoe crabs!
While a horseshoe crab is no spring chicken, it is also NOT a crab. These “living fossils” are more closely related to spiders and scorpions.
Horseshoe crabs hold an important role in the coastal ecosystem. Loggerhead sea turtles often snack on horseshoe crabs and horseshoe crab's eggs are an important food source for migrating shorebirds and fish.
In fact, horseshoe crabs lay millions of eggs annually along the shorelines. But despite their reproductive abilities, horseshoe crabs are considered “Near Threatened” by the IUCN Red List.
Horseshoe crabs are in high demand. They are used as bait by conch and eel fisherman, but they also hold a surprising secret. They have blue blood that contains "limulus amebocyte lysate" or "LAL."
LAL actually allows a horseshoe crab’s blood to clot when in the presence of bacteria. This attribute makes horseshoe crabs valuable to the pharmaceutical and medical industries. In fact, horseshoe crab blood was key to making COVID-19 vaccines!
Each summer, Adventure Aquarium partners with the Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Survey organization, other wildlife conservation groups and volunteers to take count of the horseshoe crabs on the beaches. This data helps gain insight to population status and trends ensuring their place and importance in our ecosystem.
So, the next time you’re taking a stroll on the beach, and see a horseshoe crab stuck upside down, be sure to gently flip it over and let it go on its merry way!
