Abstract
The hermit crab Clibanarius vittatus inhabits empty gastropod shells and is highly asymmetric. I have found that this asymmetry does not depend on initial possession of a shell, but can be lost within a few moults in the absence of shells, suggesting that the morphology has a genetic component but is environmentally regulated. The loss of dependence on shells has been implicated in the evolution of the nearly symmetrical, fully armoured king crabs and coconut crabs from hermit crab ancestors1,2. The first steps of such a transformation may thus have been much easier than previously thought3,4.
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