OCEAN GAEDENS ; 



to sneak past the dangerous claws into the ^'back 

 parlour/' which is the interior of the narrow spiral 

 of the shell — a form of apartment which affords 

 him a most comfortable and convenient home, in 

 which, by the superfluou.s voracity of the Crab, he 

 is furnished with board as well as lodging. The 

 external tenant of the Whelk-shell is a parasitic Sea- 

 Anemone, known as the Cloak- Anemone, from its 

 power of nearly enveloping the object to which it 

 attaches itself, by means of the extension of its stem 

 or body. It is known in scientific classification as 

 Admnsia palliata^ having been made a separate 

 genus, and its specific name ingeniou.sly taken from 

 that of the Roman cloak, the well-known pallium 

 of the classical writers. 



Almost invariably, when the Hermit Crab is dis- 

 covered inside the Whelk- shell, the Adamsia is found 

 outside; and the Hermit is seldom without his 

 dinner assistant, the prettily-striped Nereis. This 

 fact is so well kno^ni to fishermen, that when in 

 search of this worm, which is an excellent bait, they 

 never fail to break the shells tenanted by the Hermit 

 Crab, and are seldom disappointed in finding the 

 object of their search in his company. 



Another parasitic Anemone, still more fond of tra- 

 velling, the Actinia parasitica, often selects the back of 



76 



