This is a great video that I found for you on YouTube. It shows the complete life cycle of a horseshoe crab. This video actually shows every stage of the horseshoe crabs life cycle.
You will see them as they come up on the beach to mate and lay their eggs and then watch the eggs develop until the horseshoe crab finally hatches and swims around in the water in it’s trilobite like state.
You will see how the horseshoe crab matures and it includes a timeline to show how long each development stage takes.
If you ever wanted a close up look of how the horseshoe crab develops from egg to adult then this is definitely the video to watch. (music in the background is pretty good too)
I really enjoyed this video and I think you will too.
OMG:) just great, they R so fantastic:)
A few comments on the video; the trilobite larvae do not have a gut and do not feed on anything. American horseshoe crabs start feeding at the second instar stage. Timing of the major life history events is dependent on physical and chemical environmental conditions and may not be a strict as suggested. Life span is unknown, but is estimated at up to 25 years based on tagging studies from the 70s. I would consider this age a minimum possible length of life, but others may disagree; no one knows.