Mode of Feeding and Sex-Phenomena in the Pea-Crab

Abstract

(Pinnotheres pisum). THE pea-crab which lives inside mussels, cockles, and sometimes even oysters, has been an object of general interest since the days of the Pharaohs, and many legends have been invented of the way in which it feeds and of its relation to its host. Calman gives an account (“The Life of Crustacea,” by W. T. Calman, London, 1911, p. 217) of many amusing habits attributed to this crab by many writers. For instance, the pea-crab has been stated to warn its host of the approach of enemies or of the entrance of prey between its gaping valves, but it will be seen from what follows that the bivalve and crab depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics to symbolise the dependence of man on his friends is indeed an appropriate symbol.