Locals refer to them as alien looking, but horseshoe crabs are, in fact, marine arachnids that have not yet evolved to live on land (unlike their terrestrial cousins the spiders and scorpions). Unchanged for some 300 million years - these "living fossils" have to be HK's most interesting and least known coastal inhabitant.
With 6 pairs of legs under a Darth Vader-like carapace they spend up to 7 years of their juvenile life foraging on mud flats and seagrass. In Hong Kong, Deep Bay appears to be the best place to find them. The AFCD reports that HK waters have all three of the Asian horseshoe crab species.
All over the world horseshoe crabs are in serious threat from habitat destruction, over harvesting and pollution. In Hong Kong it is the consumption of the adults and mudflat combing that is threatening the local population. The AFCD website recommends that the best way to protect them is not to buy or eat them - especially the eggs (this means "killing thousands of horseshoe crab babies and 'murdering' a life of more than 10 years old").
Along the Sai Kung waterfront, horseshoe crabs are regularly left out on the pavement under the hot sun to attract customers. Children have been seen kicking them and picking them up to have their photo taken. Some of the restaurants selling the crabs have the HKTB QTS logo displayed at their entrance, a rank violation of the designation which is reported to mean that the establishment has "undergone stringent assessment and successfully fulfilled the scheme's criteria in major areas of environment, people, processes, products and systems."
Members of the Sai Kung Association alerted AFCD to this practice. The department suggested that citizens call the POLICE (2792 8600) and report such animal cruelty immediately.
As the oldest living animal on this planet, their future (especially in Hong Kong) depends on our understanding and appreciation of their role in the environment.
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Explore Sai Kung would like to thank Asiatic Marine Limited and the Sai Kung Association for providing this story.