Horseshoe Crab Dissection
Dissection
Why I picked the Horseshoe Crab
Horseshoe crabs are different from almost every animal alive. They have been around for as long as the dinosaurs and their closest relative went extinct around 400 million years ago. Besides that they also have a very interesting body, from their spider like legs underneath to their hard shell and their ten different eyes. Also being from a place where it was not uncommon for horseshoe crabs to wash up on the beach I have always been curious on what they were like up close.
How do Horseshoe Crabs compare to other animals
They really don't, they are so unlike almost all other species. Their hearts are right on top of their bodies, so if they were to get stabbed it would see like a bad place to put a heart. They use ten different eyes to get around, this is including their tail. Underneath the shell you will find eight legs but in the center of those is a mouth that sucks food up and then grinds it into small pieces. Their closest relatives were killed 400 years ago and the only thing similar today is a scorpion and this is because they are both arachnids and scorpions began moving from the water to land some 420 million years ago.
How do horseshoe crabs eat
Horseshoe crabs are bottom feeders, they skim along the bottom. They are omnivores and they primarily eat mollusk, aquatic worms, algae and carrion. The Gnathobases are sharp spiny areas located in the middle of their walking legs. tiny hairs on them detect food in the water. inward facing spines tear and shred the food as it passes through their legs. they have to move to chew their food.
Horseshoe crabs are different from almost every animal alive. They have been around for as long as the dinosaurs and their closest relative went extinct around 400 million years ago. Besides that they also have a very interesting body, from their spider like legs underneath to their hard shell and their ten different eyes. Also being from a place where it was not uncommon for horseshoe crabs to wash up on the beach I have always been curious on what they were like up close.
How do Horseshoe Crabs compare to other animals
They really don't, they are so unlike almost all other species. Their hearts are right on top of their bodies, so if they were to get stabbed it would see like a bad place to put a heart. They use ten different eyes to get around, this is including their tail. Underneath the shell you will find eight legs but in the center of those is a mouth that sucks food up and then grinds it into small pieces. Their closest relatives were killed 400 years ago and the only thing similar today is a scorpion and this is because they are both arachnids and scorpions began moving from the water to land some 420 million years ago.
How do horseshoe crabs eat
Horseshoe crabs are bottom feeders, they skim along the bottom. They are omnivores and they primarily eat mollusk, aquatic worms, algae and carrion. The Gnathobases are sharp spiny areas located in the middle of their walking legs. tiny hairs on them detect food in the water. inward facing spines tear and shred the food as it passes through their legs. they have to move to chew their food.
Observations
Starfish
Things I learned
- Can reproduce if a certain leg falls off
- They do not have a brain or blood
- They eat with their stomach inside out