Herald - Lantern - Dispatch 28 May '86

Horseshoe Crabs

SEA ISLE CITY - Visitors to the city's beaches are often curious about the horseshoe crabs that are found near the water's edge. The horseshoe crab is a "living fossil", and has been present on the beaches for 200 million years! It has been literally untouched by evolution and has survived — a true "blue blooded fossil". Horseshoe crabs are neither crabs nor any kind of crustacean. They are ancient relatives of the spider, and their closest relatives, fossils, have been extinct for millions of years. WHEN DISSECTED, they look more like a scorpion than any other living creature. These large invertebrate animals are arthropods, and are often classed as arachnids, along with spiders, ticks, and scorpions. Largely through geologic shifts and upheavals, these helmeted creatures today are found only along the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Mexico, and on the coast of Southeast Asia. Limulus polyphemus has other strange characteristics. Unlike mammals, whose ironfilled blood turns red when exposed to oxygen, horseshoe crabs copperObtaining SS Number For Child Everyone who applies for a Social Security number, including young children, must provide evidence of age. identity, and U.S. citizenship or lawful admission status, Del Brooks, Social Security manager in Wildwood said recently Parents sometimes have diffculty finding the required evidence for their children, Brooks said. They especially have trouble with the idea of providing evidence of identity. Proof of age is relatively easy — a public record of birth recorded before age 5. This document may also establish citizenship. DOCUMENTS WHICH will establish a young child's identity and which are usually available include: report card, school identification, newspaper birth announcement, court order for name change, church membership or confirmation records, doctor or hospital records, vaccination certificate, day care or nursery school records, or child's membership in youth organization. This is not an exclusive list. Any document providing identifying information such as a physical description, photograph, or signature may be used as evidence of identity. At least two documents must be present — one to establish age and citizenship and one to establish identity. Only original documents or copies certified by the issuing agency can be used. They will be returned.

rich blood turns an aristocratic blue. UNLIKE TRUE crabs, whose eyes are on stalks, the horseshoe crab has two pairs of eyes imbedded in its tail. And its mouth is located near what we would consider the center of our chests. It uses its legs to grind food, and can eat only while walking. Its diet consists of worms, algae and small moilusks it incovers while burrowing through the sand on the ocean bottom. Like other arthropods, horseshoe crabs grow by shedding their old shells. Often, then, when you find an armored shell on the beach, it's the discraded shell that became too small. FROM LATE May through June, female horseshoe dkabs scoop out a nest in the sand at or just below mean high tide line, and deposit some 1,000 eggs. One or more male horseshoe crabs clinging to the female's shell then fertilize the eggs, and the tiny eggs are covered in sand. Each female horseshoe crab lays eggs 10 times in the spring, thus depositing some 10,000 eggs each season. When the leathercapsuled eggs hatch in July or August, the little horsehsoe crabs are on their own. They resemble their parents, but lack, the spiny, spiked tail, called a telson. Because they resemble the extinct trilobite, they are sometimes called trilobite larvae. THE HORSESHOE crab's dark brown, domed exoskeleton is divided into a broad horseshoe shaped front section, a tapering middle area, and a spiky tail, which moves on a ball-and-socket type of attachment. The front flange, which burrows in the sand, keeps the horseshoe crab from being overturned by waves; but when turned over, it uses its tail to upright itself. Thanks to its armored covering, few sea creatures are its enemy, once grown. But if overturned on the beach, birds see it as a bowl full of tasty crab. Actually, some people also consider this crazy creature a delicacy , when cooked. But no matter how you look at it, the horseshoe crab is to be admired for its perseverance. After all, it's been around longer than we have. The next time you see a horseshoe crab on the beach, remember you are viewing a true pre-historic creature.

Social Security QinMkw> ,i nil Armvcrs Q. I just received my 1985 Statement of Social Security benefits, but don't know whether or not I have to worry about paying taxes My only income is $7,000 from Social Security. $5,000 from my IRA and $3,000 in interest. Should I visit my Social Security office for help? A. Not this time.. If you are single, you will not have to pay taxes on your Social Security benefits if your income is under $25,000 including one-half of your benefits. If you are married filing a joint return, you will not be taxed if your combined income plus one-half of your combined benefits is under $32,000. Just file the statement with your other Social Security records. Q. I JUST received my 1985 Social Security Benefit Statement and I think the amounts are wrong because it shows more in benefits paid than I actually received. Should I come to your office to straighten this out? A. With some simple arithmetic, you can probably save a trip to see us The total benefit an includes your M premiums of $15 month that were heid . your benefits, so if t ;»« amount you received for the entire year is $186 less than the amount on your form, there is no problem and you do not have to see us. If you can't reconcile the difference, call us at 1-800-272-1111. but wait a few weeks and we won't be as busy. Q My neighbor just received her 1985 Serial Security Benefit Statement, but I didn't. What should I do? A. The benefit statement will be sent to all people who received benefits in 1985, before the end of January. Wait until the end of the month, and if you don't get one by then, call us at 1-800-272-1111. We'll have one sent to you. Q. TWO MONTHS ago I took a second job, working at night. I notice now that my second employer is deducting Social Security taxes. Of course, 1 also pay Social Security on my regular job. It seems to me that by the end of the year I will have paid in more than the maximum. What can I do about that? A. When you file your Federal income tax at the end of the year you can apply for a refund of any overpayment in your Social Security tax.

'One Half Off!'

I get the paper and my eye meets A half a dozen other sheets ! Circulars from every place Fly out and hit me in the face. Announcing money-saving sales. And my reaction never fails: If I get one more bargain sheet, My temper will be far from sweet! "One half off!" they scream at me — (And that's exactly how I'll be! ) —Clare Campbell

Cape May County Department of Health Water Monitoring Program SAMPLES TUCK mil g OCEAN WATERS (Stale waler QeaMy Sum** a S« MPWl ' intnii Rrnam location ot Sue I Saci.ru Return location ol bio (mp*) (MWtl

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— -NEWS COUPON -i ■ Here's a coupon you can clip and save. If. at some time, you know of someone or some- I ■ thing we should write a story about, let us know. » _ | Include any details we may need (name, addresses, telephone numbers, etc.) and a bntf I I description. | Story idea: — j j 1 1 j Name aid Telephone:— j hear Mil It JOSEPH ZELNlk. EDITOR HERALD AND LANTERN P.O. BOX 431 CAPE MAY CT.HSL.NJ.M2U „ TELEPHONE: 4A3-S4S5 J