The bluish hue in its blood is beneficial for the velvet worm as it allows them to regulate its body temperature and also provides camouflage from predators.

This adaptation also allows the velvet worm to be more efficient with its energy use, as it can switch between proteins depending on the availability of oxygen.Īdditionally, the hemocyanin in the velvet worms’ blood helps them survive without needing oxygen, making them well-adapted to living in extreme environments with limited resources. The combination of these two proteins allows the velvet worm to switch between using either one depending on what environment they are in, allowing them to survive in extreme temperatures, airless environments, and low-oxygen areas. The unique adaptation of having both hemoglobin and hemocyanin gives the velvet worm an advantage over other animals that only have one or the other type of protein for transporting oxygen. Velvet worms use hemoglobin for respiration making them one of the few animals to have both hemoglobin and hemocyanin. Learn more about this in the video below… This makes it a reliable way of testing the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines. As such, using this method for testing Covid-19 vaccines is safer than other methods as it does not require animal or human trials.įurthermore, horseshoe crab blood has been used as an indicator of water quality for many years due to its ability to filter out toxins from the environment. The LAL reacts with the endotoxins to form a gel-like substance that can be used to measure their levels. This protein helps detect the presence of endotoxins, which are toxins found in some bacteria and fungi.

Horseshoe crabs are one of the oldest living species on Earth, with some estimates saying they have been around for 450 million years! They can survive without oxygen for up to 4 days and live in temperatures ranging from -2☌ to 35☌ (28-95☏) mainly because they can filter out toxins in the water by using specialized cells in their gills called hemocyanin which gives them the distinctive bluish hue in their blood.Ī Horseshoe crab’s blood is a key way of testing Covid-19 vaccines because it contains a protein called Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL).

Horseshoe crabs and velvet worms