With the advent of spring they come forth from their brumal retreats, and soon concern themselves with the duties incident to the propagation of their kind. Two males are often observed contending in the fiercest manner for the possession of a female. They strike with the formidable claw most powerful blows, and I have often seen an opponent so completely claw-locked as to be unutterly unable to make any determined resistance. These contests last a long while, and finally conclude with the complete vanquishment of one or the other of the fighting parties, one or both sustaining at times some severe injury as the loss of an eye-peduncle or the joint of a limb. All the while the battle is waging, the female is a silent, passive spectator, and generally allies herself with the successful competitor for her affections. Even during the summer season, when the cares of brood-raising no longer command and enslave the attention of the female, these combats are still indulged in by the males, growing out of, as it would seem, the lingering smarts of old animosities festering in the memory. While these carcinological lords of the sea-side are eminently fitted for the sparring business, the whole physiognomy of their smaller, weaker partners bespeaks a life in which broils can have no part, a life devoted to peaceful and domestic pursuits.
Differing widely in structure and habits from the Calling-crabs, and affecting watery situations near the shore, are to be found the Hermit-crabs. These sprightly little animals, which are usually of small size, and have truly habits of their own, that stamp them at once as being original and distinctive, are a source of never-failing delight to the student of nature. They derive their name, as is well known, from the seclusion into which they cast themselves as the inhabitants of the shells of other animals, but it is probably not generally known, however, that the rights of tenantry are oftentimes exercised in the most arbitrary manner. Not always satisfied with a dead shell, the Hermit-crab has been seen to raid upon a living possessor and attempt to drag him from his home, in which operation the assailant is often assisted by a number of his fellows, each bearing with him his castle as defensive armor. True, the attack is probably made in many instances for the purpose of getting possession of the enemy as well as his belongings, and, however this may be, forcible possession is by them considered no misdemeanor.
The body of the Hermit-crab, in the greater number of species, is unprovided with a carapace, and, being soft and liable to injury, the animal is compelled to seek shelter usually in a snail-shell, winding himself about the coils, to the inner extremity of which he attaches himself by his modified posterior feet. So securely is he now intrenched that it is only with difficulty he can be withdrawn, retracting himself as he does further and further within cover of the shell. A sudden fracture of the apex of the shell, under which appears to be the most delicate part of the animal’s body, will generally effect a speedy dislodgment, the frightened Crab dropping from the aperture.
With his progressive development in size the Hermit requires frequent changes of abode. His methods in securing a new habitation are among the most interesting of his life. He is very circumspect in his movements, and will make several reconnoissances before he is fully satisfied with the conditions of his prospective home, retiring after each visit to the old shell.
Copyright 1900 by A. R. Dugmore.
CRAB WAITING FOR FOOD UNDER A ROCK.
From a photograph taken through water.
Like many bipeds, he has his first of May, and so he goes house-hunting. He finds a shell. Will it do? He examines it within, feelingly if not courteously, to see whether it is to let. Satisfied on this point, he turns it over, then turns it round, to know if it will suit, the weight of the house being quite an item in the reckoning to one who is to carry it upon his back. All things being right, his mind is made up to move, and quickly, too, at that, lest he miss his chance through some more active fellow house-hunter who is on the alert. Out comes the body from the old house, and pop it goes into the new. The resolution to move, the surrender of the old house, and the occupancy of the new, were all effected within a fraction of a second of time.
WARTY HERMIT-CRABS.
One at Home, the Other House-Hunting.