ETTPA GURUS. 565 



tions caused by it are retained. The changes are 

 probably not due to the direct action of the Peltogaster, 

 but are rather attributable to some change in the general 

 metabolism caused by the parasite. 



Economics. 



The economic value of the hermit crabs, so far as 

 their direct use to man is concerned, is almost negligible. 

 Indirectly they are of some value since they form the 

 staple food of the larger fishes — the remains of 

 E. bernhardus are familiar objects among their stomach 

 contents — and on some parts of the coast they are used 

 by fishermen to bait their lines. Bell in his " British 

 Stalk-eyed Crustacea " (1853) says, " The Hermit Crabs 

 are much employed by the fishermen (who call them 

 ' Wigs,' or possibly ' Whigs ') as bait for cod; for which 

 purpose they answer very well for immediate use, 

 although the original possessors and builders of the 

 house, the whelks, are much preferred for night-lines as 

 remaining more firmly on the hook. They are taken in 

 great numbers in prawn-pots for this purpose." This 

 remark holds equally well at the present day. 



Even now, for example, the fishermen of Port 

 Erin make considerable use of hermit crabs during the 

 winter, as bait for cod, ling, skate and other fish on 

 their long lines. This is not a usual practice on the 

 Lancashire coast, and the men do not bait with the crabs 

 unless there is a deficiency of whelks, owing, they say, 

 to the fact that the whelks remain longer on the hook. 



At Port Erin the crabs are caught in the whelk 

 pots, and are used along with the whelks as bait, but 

 some of the men declare that the hermits are " the very 

 best bait you can get for cod; none better!" When 



