ABSTRACT
Horseshoe crabs are marine arthropods. They are almost all found in temperate and tropical oceans. During their reproductive season, they actively swim towards intertidal areas from deep sea to dig shallow holes into which the eggs are laid. Numerous coastal communities often collect them to feed on ripe ovary as it is considered nutritious and delicate product. Blue blood taken from horseshoe crab prepared into special pharmaceutical reagent now widely utilized to examine bacteria endotoxin in pharmaceutical industry, food industry disease diagnosis of patients. Cultivation of horseshoe crab not only important for blood extraction production of special reagent, but also for its conservation. Animals used for blood collecting initially disinfected with 1 % iodine tincture and 70% alcohol. As a hypodermic needle is inserted into its artery, blue blood is made to flow into a clean container filled with an anticoagulant such as caffeine or theophylline.
