NOTES AND QUERIES. 131 
CRUSTACEA. 
The Struggle for Existence among Hermit Crabs.—It is well known 
that the Hermit Crabs (Pagurid@) have occasionally royal battles for the pos- 
session of some old empty shell which serves them fora temporary lodging, 
and the following account is of a proceeding which I one day witnessed on 
the Hastings beach. I had been hunting for Hydroids at low-tide, and 
just as I was leaving I noticed a mob of Hermit Crabs. In warm 
weather these are usually plentiful enough, but it struck me that on this 
Occasion they were collected together for some purpose. In fact, so 
preoccupied were they, that they did not pay any attention to me, though 
I was stooping over them. The Crabs were of different sizes and in 
various shells—Purpura, Natica, Whelk, &c. One which occupied a 
Purpura was rather a little fellow,, and ensconced behind the thickened 
mouth of the shell he looked very snug and secure. He was evidently 
the central figure of the group, and was endeavouring to edge away 
from those around him. At length up stalked a big burly fellow, and 
seized him by the front leg at the joint. Then commenced a series 
of smart tugs, perhaps half a dozen, and then a slight pause, after which 
the tugging commenced again. This kind of thing continued I suppose for 
ten minutes, and if only fair means had been used no doubt the assailant 
would have had to desist, but it seemed to strike the intelligence of one of 
the bystanders that in rendering assistance he might also serve his own ends; 
so, coming forward and going behind the Purpura shell, he seized hold 
of it. Then began again the tugging by the original offender. This con- 
tinued for some time, but even with this assistance no impression seemed 
to have been made upon the little fellow in the deadly grip of his antagonist, 
for he remained almost out of sight, and firm as a rock. Then another 
volunteer stepped out of his own accord and seized hold of the shell of No.1 
assistant. There were thus two Hermit Crabs resisting the pull of the 
original assailant. No sooner had the second assailant lent a hand than the 
victim was instantly ‘ whipped out ” of his shell like a cork from a bottle! 
and directly the little fellow had been extracted from his shell No. 1 
assistant slipped quickly out of his domicile and scrambled into the empty 
Purpura, thus ousting entirely the original aggressor, and made off with 
his ill-gotten property. 
It would appear, on considering the above, that the Hermit Crabs must 
have very decided preference for certain shells; for, considering that all the 
other parties concerned were properly domiciled, why should they have so 
coveted this particular shell? In this case, if I remember rightly, the 
shells of the aggressors were Naticas, that is to say, shells with wide open 
mouths, and not likely to afford anything like the protection that a Purpura 
would offer with its greatly thickened and dentated lip, and a stout shell 
into the bargain.—P. Rurrorp (The Croft, Hastings). 
K 2 
