Atlantic Horseshoe Crab Molt
Limulus polyphemus
A hollow shed shell from an animal older than the dinosaurs.
- Typical size
- 4 to 18 inches
- How often it turns up
- Common
- Collecting
- Usually legal to collect
- Handling
- Safe to handle
Empty molts may be kept. Do not take living animals.
Never lift one by the tail.
How to tell it apart
- Horseshoe-shaped carapace with a long spike tail
- Hollow and very light if it is a molt
- Split seam around the front edge on molts
Found one?
Photograph it and BeachNut will rank the likely matches, then log it to your collection.
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