Atlantic horseshoe crab
Scientific name: Limulus polyphemus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Overview
The Atlantic horseshoe crab, also known as the American horseshoe crab, is a species of horseshoe crab, a kind of marine and brackish chelicerate arthropod. It is found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast of North America. The main area of annual migration is Delaware Bay along the South Jersey Delaware Bayshore.
From the Wikipedia article “Atlantic horseshoe crab”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Common names
Also known in English as American Horseshoe Crab, horseshoe crab.
Names in other languages (6)
- Chinese
- 夫妻魚, 美洲鱟, 馬蹄蟹, 鱟
- Indonesian
- Belangkas Atlantik
- Japanese
- アメリカカブトガニ
- Persian
- خرچنگ نعلی
- Portuguese
- Límulo
- Spanish
- Cangrejo bayoneta, Cangrejo cacerola, Cangrejo de herradura, Cangrejo herradura
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: World List of Merostomata.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q1133152, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Atlantic horseshoe crab”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026