Horse-shoe crab

Horseshoe crabs live in the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Maine to Mexico. They have bilateral symmetry. Horseshoe crabs have a big carapace, 10 walking legs, and a long tail. A structural adaptation for the horseshoe crab is its carapace. It keeps the small and medium sized predators away from it. A behavioral adaptation is that its eyes have night vision- It can see in the dark! A functional adaptation is that It can swim upside down so that predators won’t notice them. An interesting fact is that Horseshoe crabs have 10 different eyes.Sea turtles, and many different fish are predators to the horseshoe crab’s eggs. Worms, and clams are prey to the horseshoe crab. They are heterotrophic and endothermic.

Scientific name: Limulus polyphemus

Domain: eukaryote

Kingdom: animal

phylum: arthropod

Class: Merostomata

Order: Xiphosura

Family: Limulidae

Genus: limulus

Species: Polyphemus