Round-tailed horseshoe crabs are highly toxic Do not eat them
Speaking of horseshoe crabs, many people may not know, now we popularize it: horseshoe crabs, pronounced [hòu], belong to the marine arthropods of the order lycophea, crab-like, blue-brown or dark brown body. Since its appearance more than 400 million years ago, it still retains its original and ancient appearance, so it is called "living fossil".
Horseshoe crabs are also known as horseshoe crabs, but are not crabs, but are related to scorpions, spiders, and extinct trilobites. It has high medicinal value. It is understood that the protein content of horseshoe crab is high, and it is mainly distributed in the coastal waters of Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian in China. There are two kinds of horseshoe crabs produced in China's waters, one is the Chinese horseshoe crab, which is not clearly toxic in the records, and the other is the round-tailed horseshoe crab, which is highly toxic and inedible. However, in recent years, people across the country have been poisoned by eating horseshoe crabs, and there are strong neurotoxins in the blood and organs of round-tailed horseshoe crabs, and even high-temperature cooking cannot effectively reduce toxicity. Moreover, this neurotoxin is currently not resolved by specific drugs or serums.
A physician in the emergency department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine said that round-tailed horseshoe crab is still somewhat toxic according to literature. For example, neurotoxins are the most common, and if some people mistakenly eat this round-tailed horseshoe crab, if they are serious, they will have dizziness and chest tightness, and finally cause respiratory and circulatory system failure, and even affect life. How to distinguish the appearance of the round-tailed horseshoe crab from the Chinese horseshoe crab and the Chinese horseshoe crab, but if you look closely, you can still find the difference between them. In general, round-tailed horseshoe crabs are smaller and lighter in weight, with slightly different claws and sides. Some experts have made a detailed description:
1. Chinese horseshoe crab (non-toxic) Body shape: body length of more than 60 cm. Weight: The average weight is about 6 pounds, and the males are small, with an average weight of about 3 pounds. Tail: The tail sword is triangular and tapered, with the upper and lower edges of the two edges close to the body, with jagged spines, and the tail sword and the dorsal carapace are roughly equal in length. Viewed from the side: the back of the head and thorax is raised and the inner fovea is deeper. From the side it looks more drummed. Claws: The first and second pairs of stubs in males are hook-shaped.
2, round-tailed horseshoe crab (toxic) body shape: the body length is only 30 cm, the weight is lighter. Weight: The average weight is about 1 pound, and the male is smaller, weighing about 7 or two. Viewed from the side: the back of the cephalothorax is lower, the incortext is shallower, and it looks flatter from the side. Claws: The first and second pairs of stubs of the male are inward-curved pincer-shaped. Tail: The tail sword is cylindrical, smooth, with no small spines on it, and the tail sword is significantly longer than the dorsal carapace. Note: If you accidentally eat round-tailed horseshoe crab and suffer from symptoms of nervous system poisoning such as lip numbness, you should go to the hospital immediately.
The meat not only contains a large number of endringamide purine chemicals, which are easy to cause gout, but also contains neurotoxins, which are manifested as dizziness, chest tightness, perioral numbness, limb weakness, and even respiratory muscle paralysis and life-threatening after poisoning.
One is a nationally protected animal, the other is a poisonous animal, consumers must not buy!
Article reference: The mind thrives