556 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



It is well-known that the cod feeds very largely on 

 the whelk, and that nothing but the operculum is ever 

 found in the fish's stomach. The mollusc's fleshy 

 portion (chiefly the foot and head) must therefore be 

 bitten off while expanded — a comparatively simple 

 matter to the active and powerful Teleosi> — leaving the 

 softer (visceral) parts inside the shell. There is no 

 doubt that the hermit crabs might then eat out these 

 softer parts, and afterwards ensconce themselves in the 

 new shell. I do not wish to imply any necessary 

 connection between the adoption of a new shell and the 

 emptying of its contents ; in fact my observations all go to 

 show that the crab will accept any covering rather than 

 delay to clean a shell, let alone wait to dine off the 

 contents. Thompson's experiments have led him to the 

 same conclusion. 



Choice of Shell. 



The young Eupagurids have a much larger field of 

 choice in the species of shell they inhabit than their 

 elders have, and in addition the young whelks and other 

 small Gastropods have many more enemies than the 

 more powerful adult whelks. The full-grown Eupa gurus 

 bernhardus always seems to prefer the shells of Buccinum 

 undatum (the common whelk), and Fusus antiquus (the 

 hard whelk), above all others for a home; in fact, his 

 bulk at maturity leaves him little choice. Among the 

 many score of specimens I have examined, only two 

 were in other shells, and each of these had chosen a 

 very large example of Natica nitida for his abode. 

 E. yrideauxii is much less fastidious in its choice of a 

 house than its martial brother, owing partly to the fact 

 that the animal never attains the same size when fully 

 grown, but still more to the investing anemone which 



