Hey coastal friends!!

Belangkas or mimi (Limulidae) are segmented animals (anthropoda) whose habitat is in shallow waters such as marshes and mangrove areas. In English, the belangkas is called the horseshoe crab because its shape is considered to be similar to a horseshoe.

Belangkas existed before the appearance of the dinosaurs or about 200 million years ago. Belangkas are nocturnal animals that are active at night, especially during the full moon. Belangkas usually eat sea worms, shellfish and small fish.

Belangkas are unique animals because they have many eyes on their bodies, can swim upside down and have blue blood which is very beneficial for humans. If human blood is red because it contains hemoglobin, the blood in horseradish does not contain hemoglobin but hemocyanin which contains copper which when exposed to air will emit a blue-green color.

In 1956 it was discovered that the blood of the belangkas contains amebocyte cells that can be used to detect the presence of bacteria. If exposed to bacteria, the amebocyte cells will secrete a kind of mucus that locks the bacteria so that it doesn’t spread widely, meaning that the belangkas blood can be used to test whether or not a component of a vaccine or drug is sterile.

Belangkas is a protected animal in Indonesia based on the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation (P.20/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/6/2018) because many are hunted and traded by the public illegally.