A new species of freshwater crab of the genus Microthelphusa Pretzmann, 1968, from Guyana, South America is described. Microthelphusa meansi, new species, was collected from a remote isolated cloud forest in the Wokomung Massif, a tabletop mountain (tepui) in western Guyana at over 1,000 m above sea level. The conspicuous horseshoe-like marginal lobe and the dome-like auxiliar cephalic lobe of ...

The summit included discussions on the industry’s hottest topics. These included the evolution of endotoxin detection methodologies, horseshoe crab conservation, the issue of low endotoxin recovery (LER), an overview of the validation procedure required when using an alternative endotoxin testing method, such as Lonza’s PyroGeneTM recombinant Factor C (rFC) assay, as well as the use of automati...

Tachylectin-2, isolated from large granules of the hemocytes of the Japanese horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus), is a 236 amino acid protein belonging to the lectins. It binds specifically to N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine and is a part of the innate immunity host defense system of the horseshoe crab. The X-ray structure of tachylectin-2 was solved at 2.0 A resolution by the...

Invertebrate animals, which lack adaptive immune systems, have developed defense systems, so-called innate immunity, that respond to common antigens on the surface of potential pathogens. One such defense system is involved in the cellular responses of horseshoe crab hemocytes to invaders. Hemocytes contain two types, large (L) and small (S), of secretory granules, and the contents of these gra...

Horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus and Tachypleus tridentatus) possess a proteolytic blood coagulation system within their amebocytes that, after release and endotoxin activation, generates a polymerized insoluble coagulin clot. Clotting enzyme from horseshoe crab amebocyte lysate is the protease that activates the clottable protein (coagulogen) which then forms the coagulin clot. Comparison o...

The American horseshoe crab, Limulus Polyphemus is one of the oldest creatures on earth, and the animal continues to play an indispensable role in biomedical research. Not only does their blood contain special cells that scientists use to detect bacteriotoxins in our medicines, but their eyes also contain a neural network that has provided much insight about physiological processes operating in...