Here is a full disclaimer (from the trenches of startup land): I co-founded and ran a biotech startup that tried to disintermediate that particular supply chain. We even flew to SF to speak to some of the YC chaps, and talked to a strategic buyer. Our technology R&D failed to deliver, unfortunately. And the market is fairly small. But I learned a great deal re that particular business, and a lot of more general lessons. All in all, a crazy run with so many crazy stories, I need to write them down one day.

Horseshoe crabs are truly fascinating animals in respect to their physique, lineage and behaviour. But these things one can read up on Wikipedia.

We had quite a bunch of them in our lab (and living room). They were supposed to be voracious predators to all things they can eat, but ours developed a rather expensive habit in captivity by only eating the most expensive of goods from the local fish market. They would not eat anything else.