HORSE SHOE CRAB - ENVIRONMENT
News:
Horseshoe crabs disappearing off Odisha has scientists alarmed
What's in the news?
● Horseshoe
crabs, medicinally priceless and one of
oldest living creatures on the earth, appear to be disappearing from their
familiar spawning grounds along Chandipur and Balaramgadi coast in Odisha’s
Balasore district.
Key takeaways:
● Scientists
have urged the Odisha government to immediately come up with a robust protection
mechanism before the living fossil becomes extinct due to destructive fishing
practices.
● Professor
B.C. Choudhury, Member of Odisha State Wildlife Advisory Board, and Anil
Chatterjee, a retired scientist of National Institute of Oceanography (NIO),
Goa appealed that the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
must place the Horseshoe crabs in the list of marine species for which a Species Recovery Plan has to be
developed.
Horseshoe Crab:
● Horseshoe
crabs are marine and brackish water
arthropods. They are not true crabs, which are crustaceans.
Species:
● American
horseshoe crab
● Tri-spine
horseshoe crab
● Coastal
Horseshoe crab
● Mangrove
Horseshoe crab
Habitats:
● The
scientist said only a few countries in the world have a Horseshoe crab
population and India is one among them.
● India has two species
of Horseshoe crabs and a major concentration of the animal is found in Odisha.
Features:
● Like
Olive Ridley Sea turtles, these crabs are basically deep sea animals.
● They
come to the coasts of Balasore in Odisha and Digha and Sundarban in West Bengal
for breeding purposes.
● They
select a suitable site for laying their eggs.
Significance:
● The
horseshoe crab is one of the oldest marine living fossils whose origin date
back to 445 million years before the dinosaurs existed.
● The
blood of Horseshoe crabs is very important for preparation of rapid diagnostic reagents.
● All
injectables and medicines are tested with the help of Horseshoe crabs.
● The
molecule has been developed from a reagent of Horseshoe crab that would help
treat pre-eclampsia and the lives of many babies could be saved in the womb
itself.
Threats:
● Waste
and marine pollution.
● They
are extensively poached for their shells, meat, leather, and eggs.
● Unregulated
fishing activities.
Conservation:
● It
is in the Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, under which the
catching and killing of a horseshoe crab is an offence.
● IUCN Status:
○ American
horseshoe crab: Vulnerable.
○ Tri-spine
horseshoe crab: Endangered.
○ Coastal
Horseshoe crab: Not Listed in IUCN.
○ Mangrove
Horseshoe crab: Not listed in IUCN.