Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-25
HERMIT CRABS.
some Curious Points About Creatures That
Live in Borrowed Shells.

some Curious Points About Creatures That
Live in Borrowed Shells.
ssYINHE HERMIT CRAB HAS SUFFERED
Il injustice from the report that he is accus-
toned to devour mollusks for the purpose of TAX
ing forcible possession of their shells" said Mr.
Benedict Of the Smithsonian Institution to u
writer for The STAR. 1.-THE fact is that he
never adopts such method of procceding-if
for no other reason, because there are always
plenty of vacant shells to supply him and his
kind with domicile. 1t must not be supposed
either that the hermit resides in one establish
ment all his life. He grows, like any other
crustacean, and, just as other crabs cast their
coats and adopt fresh ones, SO does he vacate
the quarters that he finds too small for his
comfortable accommodation, moving at proper
intervals into more commodious rooms. Thus
Mr.. b. Crab may rent as his tenement, from his
birth to old age, dozen or more empty shells
of increasing sizes. Necessarily, he may not
always find one that suits him perfectly when
he desires to move. Just like people, but he
must take the best he can find; and this will
account for the fact that you often discover
such an individual dragging about an establish
ment entirely too big for him, or, what Is worse,
with an insufficient roof over Install.
1T is his tail that the hermit crab is anxious
and is so soft that any fish is likely t. bite it
of. regarding it as an exceptional tidbit.
Therefore he slows away this undefended eX-
tremity in any suitable shell that he can find.
Without such defense for his exposed part life
is distress to him. 1t is great fun to extract
three or more hermit crabs from their shells,
set them naked in a bowl of water with only
one shell in it and watch them maneuver for
it. They will fight ferociously. if it comes to
the point. but. preliminarily, they will resort
a. - H. Il, IL
that renders the successful one giant against
pygmies. 1t is as if many unarmed men
were contending for a loaded revolver. The
vulnerable tail Of the hermit crab is like the
heel of Achilles-only more SO.
There is kind of hermit crab in the West
Indies that lives almost altogether upon land,
in holes beneath the roots of trees and else
where. They dwell far from the water and
carry with them shells as heavy as are borne
by any species of their kind-some Of them
weighing more than a pound apiece. At their
breeding seasons they go to the water and pre-
sumably exchange their shells there, when
necessary, for bigger ones.
1T seems a curious freak of nature to find
hermit crabs making bits of sponge their
homes instead of shells. This is accounted for
by the fact that Mr.. H. Crab has adopted as his
home shell on which little sponge has
started to grow. After while the sponge en-
tirely covers up the shell, the lining material
OF which becomes absorbed, so that the crab is
found housed in the sponge, as if he we're quite
at home.
AT other times sea anemones will grow upon
a shell that has been taken by hermit crab.
and they will grow and multiply until the crab
Is obliged to drag around a whole colony OF
anemones. Mr.. II. Crab thus appears like a
gorgeous flower pot, carrying with him an
animal bouquet displaying all the colors of the
rainbow. These anemones have myriads OF
cells that contain poison darts like those Of
tho Lilliputians, which feel to the hand like
stings Of nettles. 1t is imagined tia. these
stings protect the crab from enemies"