Tuesday, June 9, 2009

R U into Horseshoe Crabs?

We're very excited about the new plastic horseshoe crab in Tapir and Friends online store. It's 6 1/2 inches long and the underside is as realistic as the top! Come take a look at our plastic horseshow crab here.

For something a little more elegant, try a horseshoe crab pin cast in pewter and painted by hand in the state of Washington.

Lots of people are fascinated by horseshoe crabs. They are so ancient and cool-looking, such unusual and interesting animals! They've even been in the news recently. PBS starts it's story about horseshoe crabs this way: "With its armored shell, ancient anatomy, and 350-million-year lineage, the horseshoe crab almost seems too inconspicuous to stir up controversy." Read the rest of the story here!


This engaging, realistic-looking plastic horseshoe crab replica is almost 6 1/2 inches long from nose to tail. It is made of solid hard plastic with a 4 inch body, but flexible around the edges and has a flexible tail. It has small distinct eyes. Our miniature horseshoe crab has a kindly demeanor and doesn't bite. This horseshoe crab replica makes a nice pet, a gift or fits into a diorama. Check out our other crab toys and gifts.

About Horseshoe Crabs

The horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) is a marine animal more closely related to spiders than to crabs. It is found mainly in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Gulf of Mexico. The horseshoe crab is a living fossil with its closest relatives living 230 million years ago, the now extinct trilobites. Horseshoe crabs have three main parts to the body: the head region, known as the 'prosoma', the abdominal region or 'opisthosoma', and the spine-like tail or 'telson'. The carapace or shell is shaped like a horseshoe, and is greenish grey to dark brown in color. Many other marine creatures such as anemonies live on the horseshoe crab's shell and have a symbiotic relationship with the crab, which looks fierce but is quite a harmless, gentle animal.

Do YOU like horseshoe crabs? Leave us a comment!

1 comment:

TheFrogBag said...

I remember seeing these as a kid growing up near the beach. Such strange and cool animals! Of course, one of my favorite extinct animals is the trilobite, so that makes these even better!

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