Horseshoe crabs, a family of animals belonging to the suborder limulina that live in marine and brackish waters, usually live in shallow waters with soft sand or muddy bottoms. This creature, seen in tidal areas in the spring months, is consumed in Asian cuisine, used as fish food, fertilizer and especially for scientific research.
Every year, half a million horseshoe crabs are caught and evaluated in the biomedical industry. Horseshoe crabs are known as one of the oldest animals in the world and have been around for about 450 million years.
This means that they existed before the dinosaurs and survived five mass extinction events. However, what makes this creature extraordinary is its blood, which has an unusual color. This baby blue blood is much more than an ordinary biological fluid. The amoebocytes in their blood detect even the slightest presence of bacteria, forming a clot and neutralizing it.
Intensive catching and use of crabs. Crab fishermen collect these creatures from shallow waters and take them to laboratories, where they puncture their heart area to remove approximately 30 percent of their blood. This blood is then processed to obtain LAL, which is priced at up to 15 thousand dollars per liter (approximately 550 thousand liras).