The Extra Special Courtship of Horseshoe Crabs | Helder, M. 1997.
CM 2(1):1-3. CELD ID 3942Abstract Horseshoe crabs don't look mysterious and enigmatic, but they are. Normally, one would not expect any very deep questions to be evoked concerning creatures which resemble miniature tanks, moving with ponderous dignity across the beach. But these marine creatures with shells, these "crabs," are not actually miniature when compared to other animals of the seashore. They weigh as much as 4.5 kg (10 lbs), and may grow to be 60 cm (2 ft) long. To find one such specimen would be memorable enough - but where there is one, there are generally thousands or hundreds of thousands. At the appropriate time in the spring, some beaches along the Atlantic seaboard, from Maine to the Yucatan Peninsula, are invaded by thousands or even millions of these apparitions.
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