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Got Its Name |
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The horseshoe crab got its name because its shell
is shaped like a horseshoe. In the past a horseshoe crab has been called
pan crab, saucepan crab, swordtail crab, king crab, and piggyback crab.
The Indians called horseshoe crabs Se-eanauk because horseshoe crabs have
long pointy tails like spears. The Indians thought that horseshoe crabs
were fish. In 1588 Thomas Hariot, a British naturalist who visited
America, described the horseshoe crab as the horsefoot crab. Other explorers
from Europe said they saw a "sword-tailed beast" and called it "King Crabb".
The scientific name of the horseshoe crab that lives in North America is Limulus polyphemus. It is named after a one-eyed giant in Greek mythology named Pholyphemus . The word limulus means a sideway glance in Latin. |
