Windows NT TCP/IP Network Administration

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The animal on the cover of Windows NT TCP/IP Network Administration is a horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. These arthropods aren’t true crabs; they are similar to arachnids such as spiders, scorpions, and ticks. Fossils in Canada suggest that the horseshoe crab’s relatives lived 520 million years ago; however, Limulus itself goes back a mere 20 million years.

Today, horseshoe crabs range from Maine south to the Yucatan. About 30 years ago, scientists from Johns Hopkins Medical School discovered that their blood contains a chemical known as Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL), which causes it to clot when exposed to endotoxins. LAL is now used to test the sterility of injected medicines and such devices as heart valves and kidney dialyzers. Healthy horseshoe crab are bled, loosing 20% of total volume, then returned to the water. Unlike human blood, horseshoe crab blood turns bluish when exposed to air because its oxygen-carrying molecule contains copper.

Horseshoe crabs achieve sexual maturity at 9 to 12 years of their 19-year lifespan. They spawn from late April through mid-August, most intensely on nights with a full or new moon. High tides provide additional protection to the females and eggs. Horseshoe crabs move from deep water to ...