194 



THE LIFE OF CRUSTACEA 



(Ocypode, Gelasimus, etc.). Each chamber is capacious 

 and vaulted, and the lining membrane is thick and 

 richly supplied with bloodvessels, and is folded so as 

 to divide off the upper part of the chamber as a sort 

 of pocket. 



The Land Hermit Crabs of the family Cosno- 

 bitidae are found on the coasts of all tropical seas. 

 Like the Gecarcinidae, they visit the sea periodically 

 for the purpose of hatching off the eggs, and the 

 larval stages are marine. The species of the genus 

 Ccenobita (Plate XXVI.) resemble the marine Hermit 

 Crabs in general shape, and like them use the shells 

 of Gasteropod Molluscs as portable shelters. Where 

 shells are scarce, other hollow objects are occasion- 

 ally utilized; for example, large individuals will 

 sometimes carry about the shell of a broken coco- 

 nut, and a specimen has been seen to walk off in a 

 cracked test-tube discarded by a naturalist who was 

 investigating their habits. In one instance Pro- 

 fessor Alcock saw an individual " so big that it 

 seemed to have given up hope of finding a house, and 

 was wandering about recklessly, with its tail behind 

 it all unprotected." 



The Coenobites often climb into bushes in search 

 of food, and Dr. Alcock " once found one of them 

 busy, like a large bee, among the florets of a coco- 

 nut, which made me wonder whether they may not 

 sometimes play a part in fertilizing flowers." They 

 are, however, by no means exclusively vegetarians. 





