Latest Horseshoe crab Stories

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Private industry rarely has a stake in conservation, but a new study shows that reducing aquatic noise pollution could provide a financial boost for the fishing industry. A new study published in the journal Biology Letters found that the sounds of ship noise ramp up crab metabolism, potentially resulting in lower yields for commercial crabbers. Citing growing evidence that shows even a single noise exposure can affect a variety of...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online An unusually complete fossil unearthed in Bavarian Germany was found to depict the tragic last moments of a prehistoric horseshoe crab as it stumbled for its life over 150 million years ago. The crab’s fossilized track, which is over 31 feet in length, displays both the beginning and end of its death march that was the result of the arthropod falling into a stagnant lagoon, according to a recent report published in the journal...

Research Bolsters Importance of Horseshoe Crab Spawning for Migrating ShorebirdsSpeculation that the welfare of a small, at-risk shorebird is directly tied to horseshoe crab populations is in part supported by new scientific research, according to a U.S. Geological Survey- led study published in Ecosphere, a journal of the Ecological Society of America.Population health of the red knot, a shorebird species whose population has plummeted over the last 15 years, has been directly tied to the...

Liquid crystal droplets could replace horseshoe crab blood in common endotoxin testThe Food and Drug Administration requires every drug they certify to be tested for certain poisons that damage patient health. The current gold standard for this is the limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay that involves using the blood of horseshoe crabs, which strangely enough is blue, to test for endotoxin, a substance commonly associated with many symptoms caused by bacterial infections.But researchers at...

Experiments by a team of researchers in New York and New Jersey have generated evidence that questions the common belief that the pterygotid eurypterids ("sea scorpions") were high-level predators in the Paleozoic oceans. This group, which ranged the seas from about 470 to 370 million years ago (long before the dinosaurs appeared), included the largest and, arguably, scariest-looking arthropods known to have evolved on planet Earth. Reaching lengths of 2 ½ meters with a body...

Sensor uses frog peptides to test for drug and medical device contaminationPrinceton engineers have developed a sensor that may revolutionize how drugs and medical devices are tested for contamination, and in the process also help ensure the survival of two species of threatened animals.To be fair, some of the credit goes to an African frog.In the wild, the African clawed frog produces antibacterial peptides -- small chains of amino acids -- on its skin to protect it from infection. Princeton...

Having survived for more than 400 million years, the horseshoe crab is now under threat "“ primarily due to overharvest and habitat destruction. However, climatic changes may also play a role. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg reveal how sensitive horseshoe crab populations are to natural climate change in a study recently published in the scientific journal Molecular Ecology.The horseshoe crab is often regarded as a living fossil, in that it has survived almost unchanged in...

Decline may affect at-risk shorebirdsA distinct decline in horseshoe crab numbers has occurred that parallels climate change associated with the end of the last Ice Age, according to a study that used genomics to assess historical trends in population sizes.  The new research also indicates that horseshoe crabs numbers may continue to decline in the future because of predicted climate change, said Tim King, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey and a lead author on the new study...

Declining numbers of a shorebird called the red knot have been linked to bait use of horseshoe crabs. Long-term surveys of red knots showed that the average weight of red knots when they leave Delaware Bay has declined significantly since their primary food source, eggs of horseshoe crabs, has been reduced. The study also revealed that red knot survivorship is related to departure weight, and that the population size of red knots has declined by more than 75 percent. "We concluded that...

Even in space, someone has to clean the bathroom. Good housekeeping is essential when you're living in the close quarters of a tightly-sealed spaceship for months at a time. To make this possible, NASA scientists have developed a tricorder-like device called "LOCAD-PTS" that can track down microscopic bacteria and fungi. It helps astronauts do their chores."The crew of the space station works hard to keep things clean," says Norm Wainwright, principal investigator for...