THE HERMIT CRAB. 335 



the shells of whelks or periwinkles. The dog whelk 

 is a very favourite shell with them. They are forced 

 to occupy this curious habitation, because they have 

 the abdomen quite soft, and without any shelly cover- 

 ing, so that if they could not procure an artificial pro- 

 tection, they would be liable to great danger. In order 

 to enable them to hold themselves firmly in their habi- 

 tation, they are furnished with some claspers at the 

 end of the tail. 



The boatmen and fishermen of our coasts firmly 

 believe that the Hermit Crabs are the young of 

 lobsters, and no amount of reasoning can persuade 

 them to the contrary. 



In our country they never attain any great size, the 

 whelk being the largest shell that they are likely to 

 find. In the tropical seas, however, they grow to a 

 very great size, and inhabit the shores in vast numbers. 

 We shall see, from the following description by Mr. 

 F. D. Bennett, in his " Whaling Voyage," that, like 

 the Robber Crab, which has just been described, the 

 great Hermit Crabs of the tropics possess the power 

 of climbing trees. I may here add that the Robber 

 Crab itself is allied to the Hermit Crabs, but as its tail 

 is covered with shelly plates, like those of the ordinary 

 lobster, it does not need any additional protection. 



" The entire island is covered with Hermit Crabs, 

 or Land Lobsters (Ccenobati Sp.), occupying the shells 

 of Turbo argyrostoma. They bore a general resem- 

 blance to the largest species of Pagurus we found in 

 the reef waters of the Society Isles, but different 

 essentially from it in generic character, as well as in 

 possessing terrestrial habits. 



