Horseshoe Crab Facts: NOT true CRABS | Animal Fact Files

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The horseshoe crab is known as a crab, but a horseshoe crab is not a real crab! These animals are also extremely beneficial and have probably saved your life!! Learn more horseshoe crab facts on this episode of Animal Fact FIles!
Scientific Name: Family - Limulidae
Range: Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans
Habitat: Coastal waters
Size: Two feet (60.96cm)
Diet: Worms, molluscs, and dead fish
Threats: Shorebirds, crustaceans, and fish as juveniles; Raccoons, foxes, sea turtles, alligators, and humans as adults
Life span: About 20 years
EDIT: at 3:08 we mentioned there isn't an alternative to LAL however this article discusses an alternative that is available but not widely used: "In 2016, a synthetic alternative to crab lysate, recombinant factor C (rFC), was approved as an alternative in Europe, and a handful of U.S. drug companies also began using it." - www.nationalge...
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Image and Video Credits:
Eric Heupel - • Horseshoe Crab and Juv...
Mike Rafferty - • Horseshoe Crab
SuperInactive - • Horseshoe crab at bell...
Wide Angle - • A Strange sea animal s...
dawn dexter - • Horseshoe crab - Rescued!
Rusty Clark - • Horseshoe crab - Rescued!
Eli Christman - www.flickr.com...
Cameron McCormick - www.flickr.com...
H Dragon - www.flickr.com...
Bernard DUPONT - www.flickr.com...
NOAA Photo Library - www.flickr.com...
Dallas Krentzel - www.flickr.com...
Kyle Hartshorn - www.flickr.com...
Angel Schatz - www.flickr.com...
'villian - www.flickr.com...
Jennifer - www.flickr.com...
Amada44 - en.wikipedia.o...
Research Credits:
www.nwf.org/Ed...
www.chesapeake...
www.popularmec...
www.washington...
oceanservice.n...
www.britannica...
Lamerato, A. 2001. "Limulus polyphemus" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed June 03, 2018 at animaldiversity...
eol.org/pages/3...
books.google.c...
books.google.c...
www.horseshoecr...
lkcnhm.nus.edu...
projects.ncsu....
www.iucnredlist...
www.sacredheart...
tropicalfishfi...
wetlandsinstit...
www.asmfc.org/s...
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#horseshoecrab
#crabfacts

Опубликовано:

4 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 408

@williamjordan5554 3 года назад

They looked pretty much like they do now 200 million years before dinosaurs. The design is perfect for their lifestyle. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

@redmist6630 3 года назад

i love trilobites

@Adventist1997 3 года назад

I love how that's the explanation for why they haven't changed. Random mutations couldn't randomly make more changes over that long of a time? Not even a way to defend themselves or anything? Random chance doesn't wait to be needed, so how are they the same?

@williamjordan5554 3 года назад

@@Adventist1997 Mutations only get a foothold when they provide an advantage. That's high school level biology.

@Lh0000 3 года назад

@Adventist If you’ve already more or less perfected your lifestyle then any mutation that isn’t purely benign is most likely to be harmful, and therefor harm the host, and therefor prevent them from passing on their genes, mutation included, as the other guy said a mutations usually only stick around when they are in someway helpful to the animal, otherwise they don’t get passed on. If hypothetical a cat mutated and got a honey club on its tail it wouldn’t exactly help the cat very much, and could easily end up harming it so that cat isn’t likely to pass on its “club tail” gene. This is, as he said high school level stuff.

@Adventist1997 3 года назад

@@Lh0000 And yet they're seemingly endangered and so many are easily killed by their predictors. Their little spike tail couldn't even do much as it is... So how could they get this far and be so easily killed by everything, and not even any note worthy change? It takes millions of years for such change right? So why is there none of that change?

@cascadianrangers728 3 года назад

Fun fact: Horseshoe crabs are not actually crabs; neither are they horseshoes

@dranzerjetli5126 3 года назад

Spiders

@sirherothebrave 3 года назад

Damn, I have been bamboozled!

@steven200023 2 года назад

what next are you going to tell me sea pickles are not pickles?

@CreeseDF 2 года назад

@@steven200023 😱😭 oh the humanity

@imdeaded 2 года назад

Forgot that they are neither horses or shoes

@RGA301092 3 года назад

I don't know what surprises me more: Kabuto is real, or that Kabuto is still alive.

@lol5776 3 года назад

At least Kabutops isn't.

@Sungura_Kaiser 3 года назад

@@lol5776 ...yet?

@matteojames2312 3 года назад

Most fossil Pokémon are based on real animals, most of which are extinct but all are at least quite old

@tomsmith6379 2 года назад

@@lol5776 are you sure?

@lol5776 2 года назад

@@tomsmith6379 I honestly don't know :(

@krumpnug9181 3 года назад

I fell in love with them the moment I let one rest on my hand when I was young. It was on a field trip to a marine wildlife convention or something, I forget what but it had alot of shell fish and other marine related stuff. One of the people had various different shelled fish and one of them was the crab. He showed us their biology and even allowed us to hold it, I was the first one to hold it and it felt like a moving brush. After that they were my new favorite animal. They're just cool

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

What an excellent experience!

@FelisBX7 6 лет назад

Crazy how a species that's been around for millions of hears is suddenly classified as vulnerable

@AnimalFactFiles 6 лет назад

I was reading a book that discussed how all species in same way have an "expiration date" in the sense that they will either die out, or evolve into something new. Whether you follow that or not, it's still an interesting concept to consider, y'know? So many species came before the ones currently inhabiting out planet today.

@fmx6555 4 года назад

Humans

@114bleachfan 3 года назад

@@fmx6555 humans aren't solely to blame for this in fact other things such as birds and Crustaceans have evolved to hunt horseshoe crab babies killing millions of them

@KirstenMarie_MS3 3 года назад

Environmental pressures do not remain static. And the issues is not that their climate is changing. The problem is the speed at which it's changing. It took thousands of years for the last ice age to pass. Now we're causing the same changes to happen in less than 100,

@alphatrion100 3 года назад

@@114bleachfan Denial. Its us.

@ReallyJustPlainProductions 3 года назад

Remember, kids, if you see an ocean roomba on it's back at the beach, just flip 'em!

@ElementofKindness 2 года назад

I always flipped them upright, when I was a kid. Long before it was the ethically popular thing to do.

@kaytlinjustis5643 3 года назад

Thanks for this video! As a child, I saw a documentary on Horseshoe Crabs and have indeed seen one flip itself to right-side-up with its tail, though I'd forgotten much of the other information you have mentioned. They are fascinating creatures, and I love anything related to dinosaurs and the prehistoric! Keep up the great work! ^^

@AnimalFactFiles 3 года назад

Oh that would be awesome to see! Thanks for watching!

@dominicsommer7187 2 года назад

You just reminded me of something from my childhood. While growing up on the coast of Virginia, we would see Horseshoe crabs on the shores. My dad always told me never to touch them, he told me the horseshoe crabs cant harm us, but just never to touch it. Well... me being a 10 year old that never listens, i went down to the beach alone (it was a 2 minute walk away from our house) after school and looked around for horseshoe crabs. I had seen what they looked like form the bottom already but for some reason i really wanted to touch one. About 10 minutes of searching later and I see one about 30 feet away from where the shoreline was. In case it was still alive, 10 year old me had the great idea of helping it back into the water. I stand over it and lift it up by the sides of it's head shell thing/ While walking it to the water, i notice something didnt feel right about the crab. It felt really light for something that had to be at least 2 and a half feet long (including the tail). I look down at the crab and realize that im only carrying the head. The body and tail were still on the sand where i picked it up. It gets worse... I notice a crap ton of maggots all over the legs and body and what looked like a trail of maggots that fell out of the head while i carried it to the water. I did what any 10 year old in that situation would do... I dropped the horseshoe crab head, ran home traumatized by maggots, and understood the reason not to touch the crabs on the beach. Looking back on it... I 100% think that my dad made the exact same mistake as me.

@frostandfire7164 Год назад

@@dominicsommer7187Shit yeah that must have been hella traumatizing 😂

@F-18Super 2 года назад

I love how they always look angry

@laurindesjardins1363 3 года назад

"That video was good!" - A Grade Two Teacher and a Student

@AnimalFactFiles 3 года назад

So glad you enjoyed it!

@vincentbismonte3497 3 года назад

You've been blessed by the youtube algorithm gods! Have a like from me

@AnimalFactFiles 3 года назад

Thanks so much!

@muddigger-to3xz 3 года назад

I love watching these guys come up to the shoreline to lay eggs. There so cool looking. Love watching tyem.

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

That would be awesome to see!

@rodia_the_smg_guy5575 2 года назад

Horseshoe crabs are so cool! There's so much to learn about animals

@draconicusmathiusanytherio7630 3 года назад

Always thought it was cool how this species has existed for so long, despite being freaky looking under that shell(and one pinched me hard once at an aquarium when I let it on my hand)

@valor1omega 2 года назад

I remember doing research on this animal when I was younger. Humans almost wiped them out over their blood and left them to die. Mind you this was information found back in the early 90s so maybe I found misleading information but I remember hating those who harmed these creatures. I still am not not happy with humanity for their selfishness. Forgive my harshness, I just like them and I want them to be around for all generations to come. I became drawn to wanting to know more about the horseshoe crab when I got to see one at the zoo and then watched some wild ones come out of the ocean but always kept my distance. Not because I felt like I was in danger but because I didn't want to intrude on their natural cycle. My grandmother once told me "Take pictures of nature but leave nature where it is meant to be for it's beauty is there for all of us not just you to take home with you" I took that advice to heart, I take photos but I never take nature with me. Sorry didn't mean for a long winded response.

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

I like that advice ❤️

@tomsmith6379 2 года назад

If they caught more and harvest a far lower amount of blood (say 1%) the crabs wouldn't be damaged as critically. Such majestic creatures to watch

@PartyDude_19 3 года назад

I remember one morning when I was on vacation, I stumbled upon a large population center of Atlantic Horseshoe crabs

@nja3224 2 года назад

Many years ago, I went canoeing in a creek across the street from marine park in Brooklyn, and the shoreline was covered, blanketed with horseshoe crabs. I never seen anything like that. The creek is now a wildlife preserve, but I have to believe what I saw is an annual occurrence at that location. The sand was completely covered with them, had to number in the thousands.

@wolfancap6897 2 года назад

To me it sounds a bit counter-productive to go out of one's way to catch a crab, just to harvest blood and then release it, even more counter-productive if it affects their overall population negatively. Wouldn't it be more efficient to farm them? It would be a convenient way to have a "limitless" supply of blood plus it doesn't hurt their numbers, harming any future attempts to harvest their blood.

@Kurominos1 2 года назад

dont forgett many ppl catch tousnads of them bevor they even can lay eggs to cook them as an delicacy

@miketheskepticalone6285 2 года назад

They have been trying to, both as a resource and to give the wild population a bit of a buffer. As I understand it, they're painfully difficult to propagate away from their home ranges. Wish the lab boys luck, if they can pull this off rebuilding biodiversity becomes a viable goal in a lot of different areas.

@wolfancap6897 2 года назад

@@miketheskepticalone6285 Makes sense, well, here's hoping that it can be achieved!

@quantumblur_3145 Год назад

Crab-likes in general seem averse to reproducing in captivity.

@DonVigaDeFierro 2 года назад

Damn, I found out that they aren't actually horseshoes either. Fascinating creatures.

@ericmikesell5252 3 года назад

Horseshoe crab babies are ultra cute

@ryanmac1228 3 года назад

"I was like a one eye frog or something in the primordial soup" "Lyle the one eyed guy"

@hingadinga5694 2 года назад

This video feels oddly cozy. Just a real cute and comfy documentary on spiky boi horseshoe crabs. It’s nice. Y’know, besides the decimation of half a million horseshoe crabs for medical purposes and the children being left by their parents to fend for themselves, though most creatures do that anyway.

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

😺 💀

@harley8047 3 года назад

Kabuto!

@unclebillsoutdoorandwildli8489 2 года назад

Had no idea they were used so much. Was fun and informative to watch. Awesome video

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

Thanks so much!

@firesighnavatar3283 3 года назад

the most important fact about horseshoe crabs is I love them

@thedukeofswellington1827 2 года назад

Just an example of how fleeting humans existence is to the age and history of earth

@Tallzom 3 года назад

I love horseshoe crabs they are cute small funky boys

@thetruthbyeli6124 2 года назад

Can you do the three-toed sloth? I love them and your videos, so I'd appriciate if you did!

@Envy1359 3 года назад

1:51 That one boss from Dark Souls.

@melancholygirl840 2 года назад

I love the horseshoes!!!!! I always make sure they are right side up!!

@tenmiltenmil1770 Год назад

Monday December 19th 2022 Thank you for this vital and valuable information ! ❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️😊😊😊

@stephenl2571 2 года назад

I’ve always loved these things, don’t know why

@FurdemonLar 2 года назад

Triops. I've often wondered how closely related they are to Horseshoe Crabs. Or if the similar appearance is mere coincidence. ❓🤔

@yeeturmcbeetur8197 2 года назад

I think they are adorable. Idk what it is. But they just give off that cute vibe.

@Col28 4 года назад

Fascinating!

@sararestivo6044 3 года назад

THEY ARE in FLORIDA too

@JS-jn8ku 2 года назад

I never screamed so high and loud like a 3 year pld, when asked to flip one over back on its feet. The right thing to do, I guess. Yes, public embarrassment, but I was glad I was able to provide some comedy for the beach goers.

@cascadianrangers728 3 года назад

I have this re-ocvuring nightteeeor where I'm scubadiving, and get attacked by Horseshoe Crabs leaving the water, they chase me up onto dry land, hundreds, thousands, a moving, undulating ride of chittering bulbous terror. They begin trying to mate with me, and although I try to fight them off, or run, all my struggles are in vein. 🦀 🦀 🦀

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

Whoa that sounds pretty awful!

@longboardcamify 2 года назад

I had one of these crawl onto my lap when i was younger. Scared the crap out of me.

@ashdruu 2 года назад

not only are they not crabs, but theyre not horseshoes either.

@Base_Bass_Forte 2 года назад

*Kabuto. That evolves into Kaputops* (my favorite ancient pkmn)

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

This is one of our oldest videos! If you enjoyed this, we encourage you to check out our newer videos with better audio quality and improved editing. Here's our recommendation: King Crab Facts - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-imD741puQNg.html We're also on Patreon! If you enjoy this content, and are able, please support us so we can continue to grow 👉 www.patreon.com/animalfactfiles

@AngelusNielson 2 года назад

I understand there's an alternative in the works, thankfully for both the crabs and the people who depend on them.

@quantumblur_3145 Год назад

Lab-grown synthetic stuff can't come soon enough

@Myrdden71 2 года назад

Seen many of these over the years here in NW Florida at a state park. I thought they were cool and they never messed with me so I didn't mess with them, just watched them slowly scurrying along, especially the babies.

@joanmelnick1704 2 года назад

Alligator Point is full with them. Nearly year-round, that is.

@uni4786 2 года назад

I found 2 horseshoe crabs mating on a beach and I swear I thought one was eating the other for a sec but when I realized I walked away and gave them privacy lmao

@VictorianTimeTraveler 2 года назад

Horseshoe crabs are cute so long as you don't flip them over

@fmx6555 4 года назад

Start taking 1/4 blood instead of 1/3

@WeRNthisToGetHer 2 года назад

That is so adorable

@jamesotis4310 2 года назад

Ok so you never answer how I owe my life to this thing .

@quartzskull8772 2 года назад

Yeah he did, their blood is special

@rogerhuber3133 3 года назад

Besides all this interesting info they hurt like hell when you step on them!

@Nil_25k 3 года назад

My favourite shelled animal gets some love.

@Darrylizer1 2 года назад

You forgot to add that occasionally horseshoe crabs will attach themselves to some unwitting passers by's face and with their two foot long ovipositor deposit their eggs in the victims digestive tract. Following a two week gestation period, the immature horseshoe crab will burst through the victims chest and then go on an a nigh unstoppable killing rampage.

@shadowprincess9817 2 года назад

And that is how Kabuto evolves in Kabutops.

@earljohnson2676 3 года назад

I used to go fishing every weekend with my dad before he died to young . It was Duxburry and we fished off the bridge and the beach was loaded with horseshoe crabs so cool I was scared of them but picked up a couple with my pop

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

Those sound like wonderful memories

@graveyardoperations7407 2 года назад

Thank you, Horseshoe Crabs.

@t-rexstudioproductions781 2 месяца назад

Horseshoe crabs back 300m years ago looked alot more like Trilobites

@skyguard1an 2 года назад

They look kind of cute, but also pretty terrifying, do they make as good pets?

@The_Minds_Butterfly 2 года назад

Pretty much the definition of if it ain't broken don't fix it.

@h4nkh4tchk1ns9 2 года назад

Ngl I actually wanted one of these guys as a pet when I was little

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

I liked them a lot as a kid too. Still do!

@Hyperion-5744 2 года назад

I've only seen dead one's at the beach.

@margarethe-jz1bm Год назад

i love horseshoe crabs

@rfpt7576 6 лет назад

Could you do a video on sea spiders?

@AnimalFactFiles 6 лет назад

I think those guys are already on the list! Hopefully we'll be able to get to them within the next month or two. =D

@oofityoof1144 6 лет назад

are you guys willing to do videos on paleofauna? If so you should definitely do gorgonopsids.

@AnimalFactFiles 6 лет назад

In the future we want to cover a broader range of animals, including prehistoric creatures. I'll keep this in mind when we're ready to take that step! Thank you. =)

@knotsoangelic 2 года назад

if you haven’t already (i assume you haven’t) can you make one about rats…? Pets or wild ones, either or. Both are severely misunderstood. :)

@AmstradExin 2 года назад

A Map with no Japan? Neat!

@ruthlessrude6014 2 года назад

Had them as pets and prey mantis.

@jakobylevan1694 6 лет назад

What are triminite

@robertschmidt4696 2 года назад

Horseshoe crabs are believed to be the oldest living non-evolved species still alive today.

@snopji2423 2 года назад

this video has gotten reccomended to me so many times now, there has not been a day in the last 2 weeks where i didnt see it. Now here i am, watching this video about funny crab shoehorse while i need to catch up on sleep. God bless the algoritm

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

Hope you enjoyed it! ❤

@snopji2423 2 года назад

@@AnimalFactFiles i certainly did learn a lot about this funny pancake with spikes. 10/10 would get saved by again

@snopji2423 2 года назад

@@AnimalFactFiles Even though i watched the video it is still getting recommended, i cannot escape it. please send help.

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

@@snopji2423 😭😭🤡🤡🙏🙏

@adriennebodry4711 2 года назад

There was a special spot i would go to in cocoa Beach Florida to sit by the water and contemplate life. One time I came and they were all on the beach like that. It was an amazing site to see. So I would go back regularly to watch them. Now there is a condo building there. 😡

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

Aww that's so sad! Hate to hear that!

@priestofronaldalt 2 года назад

Fun fact: they are so unthreatning that some zoos will even let you pet 1!

@zebedeemadness2672 2 года назад

That's why i leave the "crab" part out of their name referring to them a Sea horseshoe, because they aren't "crabs" they aren't even crustaceans.

@SpaceWaterfall1 2 года назад

Closer related to arachnids than crustaceans? No wonder they kinda reminded me of spiders and therefor freaked me out a bit. I would not mind touching horseshoe crabs, scorpions and big spiders however can stay atleast 100 meters away from me please

@melissathomas882 2 года назад

Creepy like a spider

@petejoseph8257 2 года назад

The geniuses of alien. Don’t let one lay on your face.

@quantumblur_3145 Год назад

These are earthlings through and through, not aliens. Do not disown your fellow animal!

@Sparky5 2 года назад

Thank you for pronouncing "Species" correctly! The less educated pronounce it "Speeshees".

@hectorzuniga8951 2 года назад

TRILOBITE

@maxsundux 2 года назад

always see these guys dead on beaches or dead floating in the water while kayaking/canoeing they look really cool.

@capdatzme19 2 года назад

What a beautiful creature ❣ Just one of our Almighty Lord's perfect designs . . . then upon completing the earth 🌎; on the 6th day He created mankind. Amen Peace 🕊 💟

@equanimity92 2 года назад

Thats why they survived for Millions of Years - Not many guys have tried the dating strategy of just climbing onto girls back to reach her home. And you wonder why u cant get a date

@batcat2338 2 года назад

NICE

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

Thanks!

@CreativeUsernameHere-r1k 2 года назад

Their carapaces look like german stahlhelms... wich are just the coolest.

@R3dAnt89 2 года назад

so the shell thing how and why is

@elcoqui9513 2 года назад

They can actually swim fast. Also they have a sort of rotating propeller which is weird of nature to utilize such technology. While funny I'm serious.

@blendn3240 3 года назад

Tides controlled by the moon? Possibly waves maybe. I always thought the tides were controlled by the caps melting and re-freezing every day and night but I may have read it wrong

@monica012077 3 года назад

Moon's gravity tugs on the oceans.

@SnuuySnuuy 3 года назад

What came first the horseshoe or the horseshoe crab

@benmcreynolds8581 2 года назад

The babies look adorable. Do the adults actually have any meat to eat or is it mostly shell and feet? lol have anyone been seriously injured with it's spiked tail?

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

I don't think they have much meat. I believe their eggs are more commonly consumed than the crab itself (though I don't think they're frequently eaten?) and I haven't heard of any seriously injuring a person. Thanks for watching!

@youtubeshark4yts461 2 года назад

I saw one in Florida on a beach flipped over but i wasn’t if it was dead or not

@AnimalFactFiles 2 года назад

I've seen something like that too also in Florida!

@DustyTheDog 2 года назад

Just imagine if people just left their babies in the woods as a standard practice for parenting. It's damn wonder how something could last for so long doing something like this. I mean, the legend goes that Rome was founded by someone who was left in the woods and raised by wolves. Maybe horseshoe crabs and turtles, yet another to abandon their babies in a totally different environment, are onto something with the way they do things. hahaha, joking(I have to say this because it's 2021 and people can't make jokes).

@quantumblur_3145 Год назад

Alternate hypothesis: the un-funnyness of your jokes is a constant, regardless of year. Also if our babies had hardened exoskeletons covering their entire bodies, it may well be a viable strategy