THE DIOGENES HERMIT-C1IAB. 005 



his claw into the failing adversary's shell, crushes his unprotected breast, draws him dying 

 out of his shell, picks him to pieces and eats him. 



To see a Hermit-crab fitting itself with a new shell is a very ludicrous sight. The 

 creature takes the shell among its feet, twirls it about with wonderful rapidity, balances it 

 as if to try its weight, probes it with the long antennas, and perhaps throws it away. 

 Sometimes, however, when the preliminary investigations have proved satisfactoiy, it 

 twists the shell round until the tail falls into the opening, and then parades up and down 

 for a little while. Perhaps it may be satisfied, and after twirling the shell about several 

 times, whisks into it Math such speed that the eye can scarcely follow its movements. 

 Indeed it seems rather to be shot into the shell from some engine of propulsion than to 

 move voluntarily into the new habitation. When the number of empty shells is great, 

 the Hermit is very fastidious, and will spend many hours in settling into a new house. 



A Hermit-crab when deprived of its shell presents a most absurd appearance. It is 

 dreadfully frightened, crawls about with a terrified kind of air like that which is put on 

 by a beaten dog, and will put up with anything by way of a house. I have seen a very 

 large whelk-shell inhabited by a very little crab, so small and weak that it could not drag 

 its huge home about, and was tumbled backwards and forwards as the waves washed over 

 the shell. It was much too small to fix itself in the mouth of the whelk-shell as is the 

 usual custom of Hermit-crabs, and had been forced to content itself with a hole that had 

 been broken near the point. 



This crab may be kept in an aquarium, as it is hardy, and can be fed with perfect ease. 

 It is, moreover, less liable to fight with and kill its companions than the other crabs, 

 probably on account of the shell, which protects the body, and renders a battle a very 

 laborious undertaking. So that if two or three Hermits of similar dimensions are put 

 into an aquarium, they will live on terms of armed neutrality, and if care be taken to feed 

 them separately, they will survive for a long time. It is rather remarkable that when 

 they become sickly, they are sure to leave their shells and lie listlessly on the stones or 

 sea-weed. As soon as one of them is seen to act in this manner, it should be at once 

 removed. 



There is a curious notion prevalent respecting the Hermit-crabs. All the fishermen, 

 and the sea-side population in general, firmly believe that the Hermit-crab is the young 

 of the lobster, and that when it becomes large enough to protect itself, it leaves the shell, 

 gets a hard tail, and changes into a real lobster. Any one who wishes to study the 

 structure of the Hermit-crab can do so by visiting a fishmonger's shop, and looking over 

 the stock of periwinkles, many of which are sure to be occupied by a Hermit-crab 

 instead of a mollusc. 



There are very many species of Hermit-crabs, those of the tropics being the largest 

 and handsomest. Some of these larger species inhabit the trumpet-shell, some are found 

 in the large turbos, and are handsome creatures, richly mottled with black and brown, and 

 there are one or two species which live in the cone shells. These curious Hermits are 

 shaped so as to suit the shell in which they reside, their bodies being quite flat and almost 

 leaf-like, so as to enable them to pass freely into and out of the long narrow mouth of 

 the shell. 



The CRAFTY HEEMIT-CEAB is found in the Mediterranean, and among other shells 

 which it inhabits, the variegated triton is known to be a favourite. In the illustration 

 the Crabs are supposed to have fought for the shell, and the vanquished is seen on the 

 ledge above, whither it has been flung by the conqueror. 



IN our next illustration we have a figure of the DIOGENES HERMIT-CEAB, a handsome 

 and rather large species that inhabits Brazil and the West India Islands. 



It occupies the shells of various molluscs, mostly, however, giving the preference to 

 some large species of turbo ; and Mr. Bennett mentions that he possesses an unique shell 

 which he found on the branch of a tree, having been taken from the sea by one of these 

 crabs. While living, the Diogenes gives out a very unpleasant odour ; and as the crabs are 

 in the habit of assembling in great numbers, the aggregate effect is rather overpowering. 

 They gather together at the foot of trees or under bushes or brushwood, and even contrive 



