Horseshoe crabs disappearing off Odisha’s coast; scientists worried

Last Updated20/03/2023

Horseshoe crabs appear to be disappearing from their familiar spawning grounds along Chandipur and Balaramgadi coast in Odisha.
Scientists have also urged the Odisha government to come up with a robust protection mechanism before the living fossil becomes extinct due to destructive fishing practices.

It is a marine chelicerate arthropod living in shallow coastal waters on soft sandy or muddy bottoms and spawns (releases or deposits eggs) mostly on intertidal beaches at summer spring high tides.
Despite their name, these animals are not crabs at all but are related to scorpions, spiders, and extinct trilobites.
Horseshoe crabs are an extremely ancient group and are often referred to as living fossils.

According to the IUCN, all four surviving species of horseshoe crabs are at risk because of overfishing for use as food and bait, habitat loss and the production of biomedical products derived from their blood.
Horseshoe crab blood is crucial in the preparation of rapid diagnostic reagents. All injectable medicines are tested on them.
A molecule has been developed from a reagent of horseshoe crabs to help treat pre-eclampsia.
Poachers kill them for their meat which is popularly believed to have aphrodisiac qualities.