Charted Waters
Hampton Roads · Coastal Harvest Guide
Coastal HarvestA distinct section of Charted Waters, for crabbing and shellfishing rather than rod-and-reel fishing. Looking for fishing instead? →

Atlantic Horseshoe Crab

Limulus polyphemus

A juvenile Atlantic horseshoe crab, showing its smooth domed shell and long tail spine

Photo by Danny Schissler, Plant Image Library, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Verified

Confirmed against an official or primary source as of the date shown.

Seasonal shoreline/tidal-water harvest restriction and federal-waters landing restriction directly confirmed via WebSearch synthesis of the actual Administrative Code chapter text; commercial-permit/biomedical framework independently corroborated via ASMFC's own horseshoe crab species page.

Virginia Administrative Code 4VAC20-900-25 — Horseshoe Crab Commercial Fisheries Management Measures · Last checked 2026-08-10

Protected / Non-Target SpeciesProtected — No Harvest
Not open to casual recreational harvest. Not a casual recreational take species — Virginia law prohibits harvesting horseshoe crabs from shore or tidal waters within 1,000 feet of mean low water from May 1 through June 7 each year (the core spawning window), and separately restricts landing horseshoe crabs taken from federal waters January 1 through June 7. Commercial harvest (for bait and biomedical use) exists under specific VMRC permits and quotas, which is a wholly different, licensed activity from any casual recreational take — this guide treats the species as not open to ordinary recreational harvest.

Not a true crab — an ancient, distantly related arthropod with a smooth, horseshoe-shaped shell, a long pointed tail spine (harmless, not a stinger), and multiple pairs of walking legs visible on the underside.

Identification

  • Smooth, domed, horseshoe-shaped shell with no claws visible from above.
  • A long, straight tail spine (telson) — used for flipping itself over, not a weapon; never picked up by the tail alone, since this can injure it.
  • Often seen in mass spawning aggregations on beaches in spring.
Regional occurrence
Common on Hampton Roads' bay beaches and tidal flats, especially during spring spawning aggregations.
Habitat
Sandy intertidal beaches (spawning) and shallow sandy/muddy Bay bottom otherwise.
Food use
Do Not Harvest or Eat

Ecological role

Its eggs are a critical spring food source for migrating shorebirds (including red knots), and its blue, copper-based blood is used in a real, still-active biomedical industry (endotoxin testing) under special permit — a genuinely unusual dual ecological/medical importance.

This page is educational and does not certify that any specific animal may be legally harvested at any specific time or place. Confirm current regulations, health-closure status, and access rights before harvesting.