It is a large animal, nearly two feet in length, this including the caudal spine. The female buries her eggs in the sand and leaves them until the young hatch, which requires from a month to six weeks. The horseshoe crab makes its home in the mud and sand of shallow, quiet bays and estuaries, but never on the outer rocky shores of the ocean. Its food is shellfish and worms, which it comes across as it burrows in the soft sand and mud. It is found in large numbers in Delaware Bay and on the coast of New Jersey. After it is dried it is often used as a fertilizar. In some tropical countries it is used as a food. The horseshoe crab is also called casserole fish, from is resemblance to a casserole.
