Hermit Crabs

Hermit Crabs, a general name to include the commonest of the Anomura, a division of the Decapoda (Crustacea) (q.v.), in which the abdomen is intermediate between the long-tailed form of the lobster and the short-tailed of the crab. There is, however, no doubt that this group is an artificial assemblage, including some of both the long-tailed (Macrura) and short-tailed (Brachyura) Decapoda.

The Hermit Crabs are now assigned to the Macrura, as they have a fairly well-developed, though soft and unprotected, abdomen. As a consequence of this some protection is necessary, and is gained by the animal living inside an empty whelk shell.

They are common on shell-banks all round the English coast.

Heme the Hunter, a legendary character who has long been connected with Windsor Forest. Shakespeare has immortalised him in the Merry Wives of Windsor, and Harrison Ainsworth has followed in the same track. His oak was blown down in 1863 after standing, it is said, for some centuries.