Guest guest Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 What are horseshoe crabs and what role do they play in the ecosystem? Can anyone help? 2007/07/06-New Straits Times Researching on 'blue gold' potential KOTA BARU: Horseshoe crabs or belangkas in Malay are among the world's oldest and most fascinating creatures. Locals, especially fishermen, look at them as a pest, and use them as crab and prawn baits, when they are found stuck in their fishing nets. Horseshoe crabs are estimated to be at least 300 million years old and for that reason, they are called living fossils. The horseshoe crabs belong to the large group of invertebrates (animals without backbones) called arthropods. One Malaysian who was awed by the horseshoe crabs' potential is businessman Zainal Abidin Fathodin, 48. He started rearing it on a small scale near his house at the Jubakar beach at Tumpat in early 2006. Zainal's experiment, however, ended when the year-end monsoon season came and carried a log which broke his cages and many of the horseshoe crabs escaped. The one that was not damaged was handed over to the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu which by then had started a study on the horseshoe crab. Zainal said land restriction and laws banning the landing of the horseshoe crabs in America, Europe and Canada. has caused a shortage of the cell-free reagent, LAL, which was produced from the horseshoe crab's blood. This has caused the price of the blood, which is blue in colour, to rise to US$2,500 (RM9,250) per litre. " It is a big break for Malaysians. The 'blue gold' can benefit us. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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