84 
Philippine Journal of Science 
1919 
the hermits show considerable facility in transferring the anem- 
ones, it may be that they detach very young ones from rocks 
in deep water unexplored by us. On one occasion three young 
hermits ( Pagurus deformis) were brought in by collectors, and 
the shells that they occupied were devoid of anemones. 
Wortley 11 has reported that the hermit crab when feeding 
may transfer pieces of food with its pincers to the sea anemone, 
but this behavior has not been observed by me nor, so far as 
I know, by other workers. In fact the accuracy of Wortley’s 
observation has been doubted . 12 Hermits of both of the species 
of which I collected specimens at Port Galera usually frequent 
shallow water where there is a rather heavy growth of eel 
grass which harbors many small organisms. While it does 
not seem probable that the hermits feed the sea anemones, yet 
it must be admitted that the anemones are benefited by associa- 
tion with them in that the active, wandering life of the hermit 
crab presents an ever-changing feeding ground. The small 
colorless anemones attached at the shell’s mouth and located 
directly under the head of the hermit crab undoubtedly obtain 
food from the hermit crab, but I have never seen them feeding 
(Plate I). 
It need hardly be pointed out that the sea anemones afford 
protection for the hermit crab since, in addition to forming 
a covering which hides the latter, they discharge great numbers 
of stinging cells when disturbed by an enemy. The 'crab itself 
would undoubtedly be a choice morsel for large fishes such as 
sharks, but it has been pointed out that one mouthful of hermit 
crabs carrying sea anemones flavored with the piquant stinging 
cells would satisfy a fish for some time. 
As soon as our collectors at Port Galera began to bring in 
hermits with anemones on their borrowed shells, I was anxious 
to see if the former would change their shells and transplant 
the anemones, as had been reported for a few other species in 
European waters. Accordingly I placed several individuals in 
an aquarium, with a number of clean, empty Dolium shells. 
Nothing of interest happened for some time, but after about 
two hours one of the hermit crabs became active, took hold 
of an empty shell, withdrew its abdomen from the shell it was 
occupying, and inserted its abdomen, almost without examination, 
into the new shell. In order to have a better chance to observe 
what might happen, the old shell bearing the anemones and the 
hermit carrying its new, bare shell were placed in another 
aquarium. The hermit showed no interest in the anemones 
11 Wortley, S., op. cit. 
15 Eisig, H., op. cit. 
