86 
Philippine Journal of Science 
1919 
period of handling and some little prying up of the edges of the 
base of the anemone, during which time the tentacles contracted 
completely, the anemone suddenly slipped off, apparently of 
its own accord. The hermit then caught the anemone which 
had just slipped off, rolled it around and around for a few sec- 
onds and then, with the aid of the hind legs, applied the tentacle 
side against the shell. Again the anemone slipped off and was 
disregaided for a moment while the hermit picked up the other 
anemone. Still holding the latter it lifted up the one that had 
just slipped off and rolled them both around for some little 
time. Finally one became attached to the side of the shell by 
one edge of the base and was left to shift for itself. The other 
was passed up on the opposite side of the shell with the aid of 
the posterior legs of the hermit and soon both anemones became 
firmly attached with their tentacles beautifully expanded. 
Strange as it may appear, the crab never seems to cause any 
injury, although the base of the anemone is very thin and when 
taken off by man is easily torn. 
While the actions of this hermit crab were not nearly so accu- 
rate as those of some others I have observed, yet like all of them 
it showed a constant and hurried activity which seemed to indi- 
cate that some inherited nervous condition existed which was 
directing its actions. Furthermore, during the time in which 
this remarkable behavior was taking place the hermit crab, 
although at other times reacting quickly to movements outside 
of the aquarium, showed almost no reaction to the stimuli ordi- 
narily produced by people passing or moving in front of the 
aquarium. 
After the hermit had transferred all of the anemones from its 
old shell it began to work on the anemones of a small shell in- 
habited by another hermit crab. The latter immediately with- 
drew into its shell but left the large pincer exposed and open, 
so that one of the legs of the intruder slipped into the trap and 
was caught. The hermit, thus held fast, discontinued its attack 
for a time ; in fact, until the captor loosened its hold and allowed 
the leg to be withdrawn. Instead of leaving, however, the at- 
tacking hermit renewed the scratching, pinching, and pulling 
until it was caught again by the leg. The intruder was held in 
this way for about a half hour during which it was inactive; 
but as soon as the leg was released the mauling of the anemones 
began again. These activities were repeated several times, but 
as long as I watched the two hermit crabs no anemone was 
removed. 
