If it looks like a stingray but moves like a crab…

September 14, 2012

Stingray Island is loaded with creatures of the sea–stingrays (of course), eels, a lion fish, sharks and the Horseshoe Crab.
This little guy–well, he’s not so little–looks like his neighbor stingrays but he’s actually a crab!

Is it a stingray or a crab?
Is it a stingray or a crab?

At first glance he appears to be a member of the sand ray family but if you lift him onto his back you’ll see that he’s actually a crab! Horseshoe Crabs can be identified by their hard, disc-shaped shells and their large eyes. When you flip him over, you can see that although his shell resembles a stingray, his underside says otherwise.
They have five pairs of legs they use for walking, swimming and feeding. You can see him crawling along the bottom of the stingray pool, searching for food!

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