gg Philippine Journal of Science ma 



period of handling and some little prying up of the edges of the 

 base of the anemone, during which time the tentacles contracted 

 completely, the anemone suddenly slipped off, apparently of 

 its own accord. The hermit then caught the anemone which 

 had just slipped off, rolled it around and around for a few sec- 

 onds and then, with the aid of the hind legs, applied the tentacle 

 side against the shell. Again the anemone slipped off and was 

 disregarded for a moment while the hermit picked up the other 

 anemone. Still holding the latter it lifted up the one that had 

 just slipped off and rolled them both around for some little 

 time. Finally one became attached to the side of the shell by 

 one edge of the base and was left to shift for itself. The other 

 was passed up on the opposite side of the shell with the aid of 

 the posterior legs of the hermit and soon both anemones became 

 firmly attached with their tentacles beautifully expanded. 



Strange as it may appear, the crab never seems to cause any 

 injury, although the base of the anemone is very thin and when 

 taken off by man is easily torn. 



While the actions of this hermit crab were not nearly so accu- 

 rate as those of some others I have observed, yet like all of them 

 it showed a constant and hurried activity which seemed to indi- 

 cate that some inherited nervous condition existed which was 

 directing its actions. Furthermore, during the time in which 

 this remarkable behavior was taking place the hermit crab, 

 although at other times reacting quickly to movements outside 

 of the aquarium, showed almost no reaction to the stimuli ordi- 

 narily produced by people passing or moving in front of the 

 aquarium. 



After the hermit had transferred all of the anemones from its 

 old shell it began to work on the anemones of a small shell in- 

 habited by another hermit crab. The latter immediately with- 

 drew into its shell but left the large pincer exposed and open, 

 so that one of the legs of the intruder slipped into the trap and 

 was caught. The hermit, thus held fast, discontinued its attack 

 for a time ; in fact, until the captor loosened its hold and allowed 

 the leg to be withdrawn. Instead of leaving, however, the at- 

 tacking hermit renewed the scratching, pinching, and pulling 

 until it was caught again by the leg. The intruder was held in 

 this way for about a 'half hour during which it was inactive; 

 but as soon as the leg was released the mauling of the anemones 

 began again. These activities were repeated several times, but 

 as long as I watched the two hermit crabs no anemone was 

 removed. 



