186 LIFE BY THE SEASHOEE. 



they form very interesting pets; the explorations in all 

 directions carried on by the long antennas, the flickering 

 movements of the antennules, the sudden recoil within the 

 shell at the approach of danger, and the peculiar gait, should 

 all be noticed. Also the fact that just as the original owner 

 of the shell was an unsymmetrical, twisted animal, so also 

 the body of its present possessor is distinctly lopsided and 

 coiled. The want of symmetry is indicated externally in 

 the inequality of the great claws, but is more obvious when 

 the dying hermit drags its soft body out of the stolen shell, 

 and shows all its twisted length. 



In the dead specimens the following points can be made 

 out. Though the great claws and walking legs are strongly 

 calcified, the rest of the body is soft and thin-skinned. The 

 carapace is delicate, and does not cover the last thoracic ring, 

 which is free, as it is in the last family. The abdomen is 

 much longer than the cephalothorax, and is twisted to the 

 right side. The antennae are very long, are placed beneath 

 the antennules, and have a rudimentary scale. In their 

 general structure the antennules resemble those of the last 

 family, that is to say, their filaments are short as contrasted 

 with the long ones of lobster and crayfish, and the upper 

 is thickened and fringed with hair. The eyes have very 

 long stalks and are very mobile. We have already spoken 

 of the inequality of the great claws ; the next two pairs of 

 legs are simple, very long, and strongly calcified ; they are 

 used for locomotion. The last two pairs, on the other hand, 

 are shortened and greatly reduced. They do not project 

 from the shell, and as in the case of the last pair of legs 

 in the preceding family, terminate in very rudimentary 

 chelaa. The abdomen has mere traces of calcification on its 

 upper surface, but terminates in a distinctly calcified telson, 

 which shows some signs of being, as in the preceding family, 

 calcified in several pieces. In both sexes the last pair of 

 abdominal appendages is present; the left is much better 

 developed than the right, and forms a sickle-shaped structure 

 which attaches the hermit to its stolen shell. The right 

 appendage is smaller, but is also hard and of somewhat 

 similar shape. Besides these paired appendages the left 

 side of the abdomen in the female bears four unpaired 

 appendages, of which three are anterior, very hairy, and 



