Crabs, Lobsters, etc. 



of his two claws. His body is curved to fit the coils of 

 the shell and is so amply studded with file-like structures 

 that by swelling his body against the sides of the shell 

 the crab can avoid all risk of being forcibly dragged from 

 his home. 



The time comes sooner or later when the hermit crab 

 grows too large for his home ; then he must needs seek 

 another abiding-place, and he is exceedingly cautious in 

 doing so. He looks around for a larger shell and, having 

 found it, probes its recesses with his claws to make certain 

 that it has no other occupant. Being satisfied that it is 

 empty, he, with an agility that is surprising, quits his old 

 home and dives into the hew one. But all the while he 

 retains his hold of the old shell and in case of mishap he 

 slips back into it as quickly as he had left it a moment 

 earlier. 



Now hermit crabs are somewhat hampered in their 

 search for food by reason of their being compelled to 

 drag a heavy dwelling about with them on their backs 

 wherever they go, so some of the more ingenious members 

 of the family have devised means for securing food on 

 easy terms. A common British hermit crab habitually 

 carries a sea-anemone on its shell. The anemone affords 

 some protection to the crab by concealing it from view 

 and also obtains some of the fragments of food left over 

 by the crab. But, on the principle that two heads are 

 better than one, the crab also picks up some of the crumbs 

 from the anemone's table. So fond is the hermit crab 

 of its friend the sea-anemone, that when it removes to 

 another shell it takes the anemone along with it and 

 places it in position on the wall of its new home. At 

 times, however, there is no reason for the hermit to change 

 its abode, for the anemone, having dissolved away the 

 whelk shell, forms protection and covering for the crab, 

 enveloping it with its soft flesh. 



This association of crabs with sea-anemones is by no 

 means uncommon, and the most curious of all these friend- 

 R 257 



