Recently, this thing has been regarded as an "internet celebrity product" in Myanmar's exports. Not only does it sell well, but it sells at a relatively high price. Do you know what this is?
Horseshoe crab (hòu), an animal that has lived on Earth for 450 million years. It is a magical ancient marine creature that knows that it still exists, but it is called a "living fossil". It attracted attention not only because it had lived on Earth for more than 400 million years, but also because of its unique appearance and distinctive blue blood.
According to historical records, when the horseshoe crab appeared, dinosaurs were not yet born. The first appearance of the crab in the Devonian period of the Paleozoic period of geological history, the primitive fish has just emerged.
According to the time calculation, the horseshoe crab has experienced two ice ages in these 400 million years, and its contemporaries "trilobites" have become living fossils. According to the history of biological evolution, organisms are either evolving or have become extinct, and only the crab has not changed its appearance from 400 million years ago to the present.
As can be seen from the picture, the body of the horseshoe is divided into three parts: the head and chest, the abdomen and the tail of the sword. The head, thorax and abdomen bulge back and are connected like horseshoes, so the nickname of the horseshoe crab is horseshoe crab.
In addition, the fact that horseshoe crabs have survived on Earth for more than 400 million years is largely due to their blue blood. Studies have found that the blue blood of the horseshoe crab can make the horseshoe crab build up the immune system.
Injectable antibiotics, glucose and vaccines are all tested for bacterial endotoxins before they are listed, and now the market is now commonly used to detect endotoxins.
In order to produce more bacterial detection reagents, manufacturing companies began to order horseshoe crabs in large quantities and take its blood. With a deal, the damage is not far away.
According to statistics, at least 500,000 healthy horseshoe crabs are caught every year and extracted from the blood in the body. But with more than seven billion people around the world, they still can't meet people's demand for horseshoe crabs, and the blood of horseshoe crabs is slowly pushed to the price of gold.
Things are rare and expensive, the rarer the things, the more they can't escape the human mania, many consumers even think that the meat of the horseshoe crab has helped to reduce fever and other medical functions, and eating has become a mainstream.
As one of the most amazing animals on earth, it has its shadow in the Ten Lao Archipelago in Myanmar.
Recently, the price of horseshoe crab produced in the Dhamlao Archipelago region of Myanmar's Delintai province has more than doubled, and the volume of trade is also high, mainly exported to Thailand.
A local who sells aquatic products in the Danlao area said that at present, the catch of horseshoe crab is still relatively small, but in the market, the price of a horseshoe crab over 500g is 11,500 kyats, the price of more than 400g is 7,500 kyats, and the price of more than 300g is 4,500 kyats. Most of the horseshoe crabs produced are exported to Thailand.
Another businessman who trades seafood in the Dan Lao area said that the fishing season for horseshoe crabs has just begun, so the market price of horseshoe crabs is very good.
It is understood that in August, the price of a horseshoe crab is between 4,000 and 5,000 kyats, but the current price of a horseshoe crab has doubled to more than 10,000 kyats.
So have you ever seen this amazing animal?