Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Horseshoe Crabs at the Shoreline

If you come by the Shoreline at SEALIFE Minnesota Aquarium, you'll get to see some of our coolest looking sea creatures! Or, if you stop at the Rockpool, you can touch one! Horseshoe Crabs often cause a lot of confusion when people see them, because we call them a Crab, they look like a Stingray, but they're actually more closely related to a Scorpian!

In the wild, they live in shallow, warm coastal waters, and have bodies unlike most animals you've ever seen before. They have ten eyes in total, all used for different things! Some detect light, some help it to find a mate, and some help orient the Horseshoe Crab while it swims. They also have blue, copper based blood, unlike our red, iron based blood. Horseshoe Crabs have existed for millions of years with out evolving, and one of the reasons they have survived against predators for so long is because they can go up to one year without eating!

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