Good to know. Next time I see a horseshoe crab I won't just run at it screaming "Can I see your blood?!"

The crabs react better to it than most Uber drivers though.

Horseshoe crabs are vexing. We capture millions for their blood (useful for testing the purity of phama). There are alternatives, but biologist worry that the animals will suffer more if they become useless to humans.

Keep your eyes peeled

Fun horseshoe crab fact: horseshoe crabs have like five different types of eyes. Even that tail is basically one big eye, covered in photoreceptive cells. Those fuckers are really good at crawling around in the mud.

I failed crab in high school :(

Definitely going to put on the resume

Does the crab not also get a certificate of participation? They certainly deserve one

Wow, where do they live?

Does it need to be alive? I only find dead ones.

Nice, I understood that reference

Seeing how valuable their blood is for medicine and research I would expect to check to come with that.

You can do a similar thing if you see a bird with a wing tag. You get a little certificate but no little bird pin thing sadly.

Completely relevant song for your living-fossil, crab-based browsing: Clutch - Slaughter Beach

Background:

• https://dnr.maryland.gov/ccs/Pages/horseshoecrab-medical.aspx
• https://abbyventure.com/2019/01/04/how-to-experience-delawares-horseshoe-crab-phenomenon/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughter_Beach,_Delaware