We endanger horseshoe crabs at our own peril
The Atlantic horseshoe crab’s lineage dates back over 440 million years, yet today the species is facing unprecedented threats. Internationally, horseshoe crabs are listed as vulnerable. Whether it’s habitat loss which hinders breeding, changes in water quality or overharvesting bait, the status of this important species — Limulus Polyphemus — has direct and profound effects. In marine ecosystems, it plays a pivotal role in the food web for migrating shorebirds, finfish and Atlantic loggerhead turtles.
But humans should also worry about their health and safety if horseshoe crabs are threatened.
The bottom line: the Atlantic horseshoe crab warrants our special attention.
Horseshoe crabs provide a critical protein that detects the presence of endotoxins in products and instruments used in human health care. For over 50 years, horseshoe crab blood has served as a natural indicator of bacterial contamination in critical medical treatments the world over.
Achieving critical balance
Instead of developing antibodies in response to infection, the primitive immune system of the horseshoe crab releases proteins that can bind and kill bacteria. Vaccines, injectable drugs, intravenous solutions and implantable medical devices for humans and animals are quality-checked for safety using a test that is derived from horseshoe crab blood.
As both demand for these animals and their mortality increase, there is a clear need for increased research to better understand the pressure impacting this species as well as their interactions with coastal ecosystems. Scientists like those at Mystic Aquarium and Charles River Laboratories of Wilmington, Mass., are working to answer these questions to ensure the population remains stable while achieving the critical balance between our medical need for the valuable material and data they provide and the livelihood of the contributing animal.
Mystic Aquarium has long partnered with Sacred Heart University’s Project Limulus and Charles River to elevate local horseshoe crab conservation efforts by bringing awareness through educational events along with ongoing research and development projects.
Charles River helps alleviate pressures on these populations through conservation, active animal welfare campaigns and decades of research and development. Their team has a passion for innovation and a commitment to humane care as an industry leader in the manufacturing of life-saving Limulus Amebocyte Lysate — or LAL — a vital aqueous extract from horseshoe crab blood, and the protection of nature’s most important blood donors. The pivotal role horseshoe crabs play in our ecosystem and the valuable contribution they make to biomedical research community should not be understated. The work of Mystic Aquarium researchers and their partners engages the public and scientific community in environmental management and species protection plans that ensure the horseshoe crab’s continued survival and promote its recovery to provide the most benefit to all.
Conservation through education
Working in collaboration with Charles River and other partners, Mystic Aquarium engages the community in environmental management and species protection plans. This helps bolster horseshoe crab conservation through education designed to highlight the plight of horseshoe crabs and motivate changes to help protect their critical habitats. This includes conducting monitoring and tagging events, pairing beach cleanups with horseshoe crab surveys, conducting water quality surveys of their habitat and the rearing of juvenile horseshoe crabs.
Over the next month, Mystic Aquarium will complete the Aquaculture Laboratory in the Milne Ocean Science and Conservation Center. This $1.5 million, 6,000-square-foot project will create one of the most modern and well-equipped fish and invertebrate facilities in the nation, including a dedicated space for the Charles River-Mystic Aquarium Horseshoe Crab Rearing Project. In addition to teaching regional students how these
ocean arthropods contribute to human health and safety, the rearing project provides multiple opportunities to engage the community in related educational programming, while serving as the basis for a large-scale, cooperative conservation effort.
Whether it is participating in a classroom program, citizen science conservation initiative or visiting the species on exhibit at the Aquarium, horseshoe crabs continue to serve as a conduit through which the community is able to gain a greater appreciation for the environment and to inspire individuals to become active environmental stewards.
This collaboration allows for significantly more data on species distribution, mortality and human impact than a single research team could possibly compile independently. This data is key to environmental management and species protection plans in Long Island Sound.
Since 2013, the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission has seen a rebound in populations after South Carolina developed a state-wide management plan to conserve horseshoe crabs. The South Carolina state legislature, recognizing the biomedical significance of the species, enacted laws to protect indigenous populations by allowing the hand-harvest of horseshoe crabs solely for biomedical application and marine biological research, not as bait for the eel and whelk industries.
As citizens, it is our responsibility to preserve and protect our ocean planet and the species that call it home — for their benefit and our own.
The bottom line: the Atlantic horseshoe crab warrants our special attention.