ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1551 



touch of the tentacles^ as it 

 lives habitually under their 

 shelter. Several of these 

 fishes may accompany a 

 single Man-of-war. When 

 disturbed by larger fishes 

 they seek refuge among the 

 trailing tentacles, where 

 pursuing fishes often meet 

 their fate. The remarkable 

 immunity of the pilots may 

 be due to some secretion of 

 the fish which actually pre- 

 vents the adherence of the 

 stinging cells of the tenta- 

 cles^ as the fishes dart 

 freely among them for pro- 

 tection. 



The writer has taken many 

 of them with a long-handled 

 dip net when cruising with 

 the Fisheries Steamer Alba- 

 tross in the Gulf Stream. 



As many as ten of these little fishes have been 

 secured in lifting a single Physalia from the 

 water. C_ H. T. 



THE HERMIT CRAB 



(^Petrocliirus bahamensis) 

 By L. L. Mowbray 



From some primitive kind of crustacean which 

 discovered the advantages of a portable shelter 

 has been derived the hermit crabs. The larg- 

 est of the marine hermits is found in Bermuda, 

 Florida, and the West Indies. 



The name hermit or soldier crab is of ancient 

 date and is applied to this ensconced crustacean 



MAN-OF-WAR PILOT, (NOMEUS ORONOVIIJ 

 From alcoholic specimens. Photographed by L. L. Mowbray. 



HERMIT CRAB OF J'HE WEST INDIES 

 Photographed by L. L. Mowbray. 



as it resembles a hermit in his cell or a soldier 

 in armor. It was long doubted if the hermit 

 would actually attack an animal in its shell for 

 the purpose of obtaining a suitable dwelling. 

 This fact has been well established, and after 

 the animal has been killed the hermit will eat it. 

 One of the most interesting things in the her- 

 mit's life is to watch it examining an empty 

 shell before entering it. A short while ago I 

 made some moving pictures of the life of the 

 hermit crab and after showing the crab in its 

 shell I removed it and showed the animal walk- 

 ing about in an aquarium without its house. An 

 empty Strombus shell was then placed in the 

 aquarium and the hermit approached it with 

 caution, circled it and then turned it over so 

 that the lip was up, and with the greatest cau- 

 tion crawled over it inserting its large biting 

 claws into the shell and gradually going in fur- 

 ther and further until it was perfectly satisfied 

 there was nothing therein. Making a quick 

 turn of the body, it thrust its tail into the shell,, 

 moving about three or four times to the right 

 and left, and after satisfying himself that the 

 shell would answer the i^urjaose, proceeded to 

 move away, of course, dragging the shell with 

 it. It is necessary for the hermit crab to change 

 its shell frequently. As it grows it must have 

 a larger covering, and sometimes it so happens 

 tliat it cannot find a suitable shell and will 

 t?ke anything that it can get into and carry 

 away. I have seen them carrying an enamel 

 can, the bowl of a clay pipe or a small bottle. 



