to male crabs in Delaware, and a permanent moratorium is in effect in South Carolina. The eggs are eaten in parts of Southeast Asia, Johor and China. A low horseshoe crab population in the Delaware Bay is hypothesized to endanger the future of the red knot. Red knots, long-distance migratory shorebirds, feed on the protein-rich eggs during their stopovers on the beaches of New Jersey and Delaware. An effort is ongoing to develop adaptive-management plans to regulate horseshoe crab harvests in the bay in a way that protects migrating shorebirds. Culinary use The population of T. gigas in Indonesia and Malaysia has decreased dramatically in the past decade. The harvesting of T. gigas is largely used to supply Thailand with primarily female T. gigas, which is considered a local delicacy. This female biased harvesting has led to an unbalanced sex ratio in the wild, which also contributes to its declining population in the area. Conservation status Development along shorelines is dangerous to horseshoe crab spawning, limiting available space and degrading habitat. Bulkheads can block access to intertidal spawning regions as well. Because of the destruction of habitat and shoreline development, use in fishing, status as a culinary delicacy in some areas, and use for scientific research and advancements, the horseshoe crab is facing down endangered and extinct statuses. One species, T. tridentatus, has already been declared extinct in one area of Taiwan. Facing a greater than 90% population decrease in T. tridentatus juveniles, it is suspected that Hong Kong will be the next to declare the horseshoe crab extinct in its area. The species is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, specifically because of overexploitation and loss of critical habitat leading to a steep decline in population size. References Further reading External links When the Horseshoe Crabs Are Gone, We’ll Be in Trouble. New York Times 2023 LAL Update Science Friday Video: horseshoe crab season Horseshoe crab at the Smithsonian Ocean Portal The Horseshoe Crab – Medical Uses; The Ecological Research & Development Group (ERDG) RedKnot.org links to shorebird recovery sites, movies, events & other info on Red Knot rufa & horseshoe crabs. Crab Bleeders Article about the men who bleed horseshoe crabs for science. Day time mating of horseshoe crabs in Maine Sarah Zhang, The Last Days of the Blue-Blood Harvest, The Atlantic, May 9, 2018 Extant Ordovician first appearances Xiphosura