Giant Horseshoe Crab Caught Off of Bay Head

When Dr. Sandy Benthic of the Rutgers Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences saw the specimen she was speechless. "I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life," Dr. Benthic said. Most people may not consider horseshoe crabs beautiful, but Dr. Benthic, who has been studying them for her entire career, believes that beauty is more than shell-deep. "Limulus Polyphemus (the technical name of horseshoe crabs) is a living fossil. They date back about 450 million years. Absolutely remarkable animals. But what we have here is even more amazing. I never thought I would see such a well preserved Limulus Polyphemus Gigantus! And it's 47 feet long!"

Limulus Polyphemus Gigantus is the Latin term for the Giant Horseshoe Crab. Unlike their near-shore cousins we are used to seeing, Giant Horseshoe Crabs make their home at the bottom of the deep ocean where they burrow into the sand and can grow to be over 50 feet long. Researchers have rarely seen them and very few specimens, living or dead, have ever been caught. It's not surprising, then, that fisherman Clay Hadal of Bay Head didn't know what he was looking at when he spotted the beast.

"We were pretty far out when I saw it," said Hadal. "I thought it might be a lifeboat or something so we decided to take a closer look. It kind of freaked us when we got close and saw what it was." The horseshoe crab was dead, unfortunately, but completely intact. Usually dead sea life will sink to the bottom of the ocean, but for some reason, this horseshoe crab managed to float to the surface. Hadal realized that he had found something unique so he towed to to shore and contacted Rutgers Marine and Coastal Sciences. 

"When Mr. Hadal called I could barely believe what he was telling me, but he sent me a picture and I immediately headed to Bay Head," said Dr. Benthic. When she saw it, Dr. Benthic confirmed it was a rare, 47 feet long, Giant Horseshoe Crab. She asked Mr. Hadal what he intended to do with it, and was delighted when he said he would be happy to donate it to the University. "Thanks to Mr. Hadal, we will be able to learn a great deal about the Limulus Polyphemus Gigantus and perhaps later give it to the Museum of Natural history."

Clay Hadal later watched as Dr. Benthic and some of her students sprayed his "catch" with a protective plaster-like coating to preserve the horseshoe crab for safe transport. Dr. Benthic then invited Hadal to climb atop the Giant Horseshoe Crab for a picture. "I doubt I'll ever catch anything that big again," he said. "At least I will always have that picture to show my grandkids someday!"