Crab identification
January 18, 2024 3:44 PM Subscribe
We’re identifying various shells from the beach for my kid’s science fair poster. We’re stumped on what this claw is. Help us identify and bring your scientific support!
This was found on a Delaware beach in December.
This was found on a Delaware beach in December.
Response by poster: Claw itself is about an inch, the whole piece is probably a bit over 2 inches.
posted by inevitability at 3:55 PM on January 18
posted by inevitability at 3:55 PM on January 18
It looks little, and that, along with the brushy bit would make me guess that it’s one of the little leggy/claw/mouthpart bits of a blue crab.
posted by rockindata at 3:56 PM on January 18
posted by rockindata at 3:56 PM on January 18
Response by poster: I considered blue crab but photos only showed it with orange tipped claws?
posted by inevitability at 4:02 PM on January 18
posted by inevitability at 4:02 PM on January 18
Best answer: Pretty sure that's a claw from a horseshoe crab. The brushy bits are part of the mouth. The brown color, shape, and brushy bit helped me decide. I taught at a southeastern coastal educational camp for a school year, we'd find these all the time. Good luck with the science fair project!
posted by Guess What at 4:06 PM on January 18 [3 favorites]
posted by Guess What at 4:06 PM on January 18 [3 favorites]
Even more info on the horseshoe crab, goes into clearer details about their body plan, etc. forgot to mention that it looks like you found a walking leg. Used for walking on the ground and food gathering rather than more display fighting/pinching (and food gathering ) like on a true crab. (It can pinch, but that is more for getting food.)
posted by Guess What at 4:12 PM on January 18
posted by Guess What at 4:12 PM on January 18
Ok! So I mis-remembered what horseshoe crabs use their walking legs for. I'm a decade out of practice, whoops.
I don't want to confuse anyone, so check out these facts from the National Zoo.
"3. They have six pairs of legs but only five are for walking. Horseshoe crabs walk on 10 legs and use their last pair, called the chelicera (stuff we called brushy bits), to move food into their mouths...."
posted by Guess What at 4:20 PM on January 18
I don't want to confuse anyone, so check out these facts from the National Zoo.
"3. They have six pairs of legs but only five are for walking. Horseshoe crabs walk on 10 legs and use their last pair, called the chelicera (stuff we called brushy bits), to move food into their mouths...."
posted by Guess What at 4:20 PM on January 18
Response by poster: Oooh! It might be! We believe we also found a horseshoe abdomen on the same beach.
posted by inevitability at 5:35 PM on January 18
posted by inevitability at 5:35 PM on January 18
Oh yeah, I forgot about horseshoes(I haven’t been a marine biologist for over a decade at this point, and haven’t been on the east coast for even longer). I agree, a horseshoe leg is a very good candidate.
posted by rockindata at 6:19 PM on January 18
posted by rockindata at 6:19 PM on January 18
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posted by rockindata at 3:54 PM on January 18