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Emerging microplastic threats to horseshoe crabs: accumulation patterns and toxicity mechanisms
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This review pulls together existing research showing that horseshoe crabs, ancient sea creatures whose blue blood is actually used to test the safety of vaccines and medical devices, are accumulating tiny plastic particles in their bodies and eggs, sometimes alongside toxic metals and antibiotics. These pollutants appear to harm the crabs' growth, behavior, and gut health, which matters because horseshoe crabs sit at the base of a coastal food chain and play a unique role in medical safety testing, meaning their decline could ripple out to both ecosystems and human health systems in ways we don't fully understand yet.
Micro- and nanoplastics possess serious ecotoxicological threats to ancient lineages like horseshoe crabs. This review comprehensively synthesize MP occurrence, ecological risks, influencing factors and underlying toxicity mechanisms in horseshoe crabs while identifying knowledge gaps for future endeavors. MPs have been reported in gastrointestinal tracts of T. tridentatus (11.8 MPs/ind.) and eggs of L. polyphemus (633 MPs/g), with no data available for C. rotundicauda and T. gigas . Most studies reported fiber-shaped MPs (60%) and 1–5 mm sized MPs (37.5%) in horseshoe crabs, with polyamide, polypropylene, and cellophane were most commonly observed polymer. Detected polymers pose moderate-to-high ecological risks and may accumulate from costal sediment, water, and contaminated prey. Furthermore, MP/NPs alone or co-exposed with heavy metal (Cu²⁺) and norfloxacin, induce growth, behavioral, metabolic, oxidative, gut-microbiota, digestive enzyme alterations in T. tridentatus . Finally, future research on source identification, tissue-level accumulation, and immuno-endocrine disruption in horseshoe crabs, together with improved coastal pollution management is recommended.
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Dataset of impact of micro and nanoplastic in early juveniles of Limulus polyphemus of the Yucatán Peninsula
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Scientists tested how tiny plastic particles (microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics) affect baby horseshoe crabs, tracking their survival, growth, breathing, behavior, and internal stress responses over three weeks. Horseshoe crabs are ecologically important and their blood is even used to test the safety of vaccines and medical devices, so understanding how plastic pollution harms them can reveal broader risks to ocean food chains that eventually connect back to human health. This dataset provides the raw numbers behind those findings for other researchers to study further.
Microplastics disrupt energy metabolism and intestinal integrity in juvenile Chinese horseshoe crabs
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Scientists exposed young horseshoe crabs (an ancient marine species) to microplastics and found real damage: the plastic particles built up in their gills and gut, weakened digestion, thinned their intestinal walls, and messed up how they process fats and energy—and these problems didn't fully go away even after the plastic exposure stopped. This matters because it shows microplastics can cause lasting harm to marine life that filters or lives in polluted waters, a warning sign for the broader food chain and ecosystems humans depend on, including the seafood we eat.
Differential effects of pristine and aged polystyrene nanoplastics on the first molting process in Tachypleus tridentatus
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Scientists found that tiny plastic particles (nanoplastics) harm baby horseshoe crabs by disrupting their ability to molt, or shed their shells to grow, a critical step for survival. Surprisingly, "weathered" plastic particles (the kind that break down from sunlight exposure in real oceans) caused this harm through different, less-understood mechanisms than fresh plastic particles typically used in lab studies. This matters because most plastic pollution in the environment is aged, not fresh, meaning current safety testing may be underestimating real-world risks to marine life, and potentially to the seafood humans eat.
Effects of Pristine and UV-Aged Polystyrene Nanoplastics on Post-Molt Horseshoe Crabs Tachypleus tridentatus: Aging-Mediated Divergence in Biological Effects.
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Scientists found that tiny plastic particles (nanoplastics) affect young horseshoe crabs differently depending on whether the plastic has been broken down by sunlight, surprisingly, "fresh" plastic caused more stress to the crabs' bodies than sun-damaged plastic. This matters because horseshoe crabs are vital to coastal ecosystems and medical testing (their blood is used to check vaccine safety), and it shows that how plastics age in the environment changes their potential harm, a factor scientists need to consider when studying how microplastics might affect other species, including humans, through the food chain.
Polystyrene microplastics impede growth and induce behavioural toxicity in endangered juvenile horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus tridentatus)
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Researchers exposed juvenile horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus tridentatus), an endangered species, to polystyrene microplastics and found significant growth retardation and behavioral abnormalities, raising concern that microplastic pollution may be contributing to population declines in this already threatened species.
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