The Development of the Pedunculate 
Spermatophore of a Hermit Crab, 
Dardanus as per (De Haan)^ 
Donald C. Matthews^ 
Although in a few pagurian genera {Ana- 
pagurus, Clibanarius, Diogenes, Eupagurus, Pa- 
gurus) the morphological, physiological, and 
mechanical phenomena associated with the 
elaboration of the pedunculate spermato- 
phores have been thoroughly investigated, 
in most pagurian genera these phenomena 
have been completely neglected. 
This paper extends the knowledge of pe- 
dunculate spermatophore elaboration and 
compares the process in Dardanus asper (De 
Haan) with that of other species. 
The literature pertinent to the study of the 
development of pedunculate spermatophores 
is adequately covered in Mouchet’s (1931) 
bibliography. In so far as can be ascertained, 
no published work on the development of the 
spermatophore of Dardanus asper has been 
reported. 
METHODS AND TECHNIQUES 
Specimens of D. asper (Fig. Ic) obtained 
from the Honolulu Aquarium between March, 
1949 , and November, 1952, were used in this 
study. These were transported in sea water 
to the laboratory at the University of Hawaii 
and used immediately. Cutting the apices of 
the covering shells {Tonna perdix) (Fig. lb) 
caused the hermit crabs to abandon them 
quickly. The crabs were then seized, their 
nerve cords severed, and the dorsal surface 
of their abdominal wall removed. 
The exposed reproductive systems (Fig. 2c, 
d) were then freed of the blood vessels and 
connective tissues which encompassed them. 
Any macroscopic effects of the asymmetrical- 
ly placed viscera on the reproductive systems 
^ Contribution No. 32 , Hawaii Marine Laboratory. 
2 Department of Zoology and Entomology, Uni- 
versity of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. Manuscript re- 
ceived May 16, 1952. 
were recorded. Small portions (about 0.5 cm.) 
of the distal vasa deferentia (Fig. Aa) of both 
the right and left sides were removed and 
placed immediately in fixative. A label indi- 
cating specimen number and side was inserted 
in each vial so that any dimorphism of the 
spermatophores could be correlated with that 
side of the reproductive system most affected 
by the asymmetric abdomen. The remaining 
portions of the right and left vasa deferentia 
and testes were then freed, that of one side 
was placed in fixative for future sectioning, 
and the other was dissected. In this manner 
both right and left testes and right and left 
vasa deferentia were alternately placed in fix- 
ative and alternately dissected. 
The testes and vasa deferentia were placed 
in Bouin’s fixative, cleared in toluene, em- 
bedded in Tissuemat (54-56°C.) and were 
serially sectioned at 10 microns. The sections 
were stained with standard alum-haematoxy- 
lin and counterstained with eosin (0.5 per 
cent solution in 90 per cent alcohol to which 
4.0 cc. of O.lN HCl was added). 
Other living right and left vasa deferentia 
were injected with neutral red (Ehrlich) so 
that the effects of the muscular contractions 
on the sperm mass could be more clearly 
discerned. 
All figures were drawn by Evan Gillespie 
from dissections or from slides prepared by 
the author. 
My appreciation is extended to Mr. Spencer 
Tinker, Director of the Honolulu Aquarium, 
who generously supplied the specimens. 
DISCUSSION 
The abdomen of D. asper (Fig. 2a), like that 
of most hermit crabs, exhibits an asymmetri- 
cal arrangement of its viscera upon dissection. 
255 
