Traveling from the Delaware Bay to the Florida Panhandle, this examination is a quest through the natural history and science behind one of nature's oldest and oddest survivors--the horseshoe crab. With ten eyes, five pairs of walking legs, a heart half the length of their bodies, and blood that can save a person's life, horseshoe crabs have been on this planet for 445 million years--since long before the dinosaurs arrived. This book explores their unique biology and sex life, explains their importance to medical science and migratory shorebirds, and introduces readers to the people who are working to study and protect them.

Surviving almost unmolested for 300 million years, the horseshoe crab is now the object of an intense legal and ethical struggle involving marine biologists, environmentalists, US government officials, biotechnologists, and international corporations. The source of this friction is the discovery 25 years ago that the blood of these ancient creatures serves as the basis for the most reliable test for the deadly and ubiquitous gram-negative bacteria. These bacteria are responsible for life-threatening diseases like menengitis, typhoid, E. coli, Legionnaire's Disease and toxic shock syndrome. Because every drug certified by the FDA must be tested using the horseshoe crab derivative known as Limulus lysate, a multimillion dollar industry has emerged involving the license to "bleed" horseshoe crabs and the rights to their breeding grounds. Since his youthful fascination with these ancient creatures, William Sargent has spent much of his life observing, studying, and collecting horseshoe crabs. As a result, he presents a thoroughly accessible insider's guide to the discovery of the lysate test, the exploitation of the crabs at the hands of multinational pharmaceutical conglomerates, local fishing interests, and the legal and governmental wrangling over the creatures' ultimate fate. In the end, the story of the horseshoe crab is a sobering reflection on the unintended consequences of scientific progress and the danger of self-regulated industries controlling a limited natural resource.

The world's nearly 7,000 species of crabs are immediately recognizable by their claws, sideways movement, stalked eyes, and thick outer shells. These common crustaceans are found internationally, thriving in various habitats from the edge of the sea to the depths of the ocean, in fresh water or on land. Despite having the same basic body type as decapod crustaceans-true crabs have heavy exoskeletons and ten limbs with front pincer claws-crabs come in an enormous variety of shapes and sizes, from the near microscopic to the giant Japanese spider crab. In Walking Sideways, Judith S. Weis provides an engaging and informative tour of the remarkable world of crabs, highlighting their unique biology and natural history. She introduces us to recently discovered crabs such as the Yeti crab found in deep sea vents, explains what scientists are learning about blue and hermit crabs commonly found at the shore, and gives us insight into the lifecycles of the king and Dungeness crabs typically seen only on dinner plates. Among the topics Weis covers are the evolution and classification of crabs, their habitats, unique adaptations to water and land, reproduction and development, behavior, ecology, and threats, including up-to-date research. Crabs are of special interest to biologists for their communication behaviors, sexual dimorphism, and use of chemical stimuli and touch receptors, and Weis explains the importance of new scientific discoveries. In addition to the traditional ten-legged crabs, the book also treats those that appear eight-legged, including hermit crabs, king crabs, and sand crabs. Sidebars address topics of special interest, such as the relationship of lobsters to crabs and medical uses of compounds derived from horseshoe crabs (which aren't really crabs). While Weis emphasizes conservation and the threats that crabs face, she also addresses the use of crabs as food (detailing how crabs are caught and cooked) and their commercial value from fisheries and aquaculture. She highlights other interactions between crabs and people, including keeping hermit crabs as pets or studying marine species in the laboratory and field. Reminding us of characters such as The Little Mermaid's Sebastian and Sherman Lagoon's Hawthorne, she also surveys the role of crabs in literature (for both children and adults), film, and television, as well in mythology and astrology. With illustrations that offer delightful visual evidence of crab diversity and their unique behaviors, Walking Sideways will appeal to anyone who has encountered these fascinating animals on the beach, at an aquarium, or in the kitchen.

A family goes crabbing on the beach, but can't seem to find any crabs--only the reader can see where they are hiding.

Some days, it's easy to feel friendly or funny or silly. But other days, it's easier to feel mad or mean or snappy-in other words, to be a crab. In this accessible introduction to moods and feelings, children will meet an underwater world full of friendly creatures, including a little crab whose changing moods show that it's okay to have days when you're feeling a little bit under the weather. Things will turn around soon enough!

With species existing in all subpolar seas, king crabs are one of the most valuable seafoods. Major fluctuations in their abundance have stimulated a flurry of research and a rapid expansion of the scientific literature in the last decade. King Crabs of the World: Biology and Fisheries Management consolidates extensive knowledge on the biology, systematics, anatomy, life history, and fisheries of king crabs and presents it in a single volume. This book is the first comprehensive scientific reference devoted to the biology and fisheries of king crabs. The first part of the book describes king crabs and their place in the world, covering geographic distribution, depth and temperature ranges, and maps of known habitats. Chapters examine phylogenetic relationships, evolutionary history and phylogeography, internal and external anatomy of king crabs, and the history of North Pacific fisheries. There is also a chapter that presents a comprehensive overview of diseases and other anomalies of king crabs. The second part of the book describes the life history and biology of various king crab species, including embryonic development and environmental factors, the development and biology of larvae, the ecology and biology of juvenile stages, reproductive strategies of fished species, and the growth and feeding of king crabs and their ecological impacts. The third part of the book discusses human and environmental interactions with king crabs through fisheries, management, and ecosystems. Topics include the impacts of fishing—bycatch, handling, and discard mortality—king crab aquaculture and stock enhancement, and king crabs from various regions such as Southern Hemisphere waters, the Barents Sea, and Alaska. A chapter synthesizing various aspects of king crab biology provides an ecosystem-scale perspective and the final chapter presents the author’s outlook on the future of king crab research and populations.

"A basic exploration of the appearance, behavior, and habitat of crabs, the widespread shelled crustaceans. Also included is a story from folklore explaining why crabs look as though they are headless"--