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ABSTRACT IN your issue of December 26, 1889 (p. 176), Mr. Pascoe drew attention to the cases of certain crabs which are frequently found covered with sponges, algæ, shells, &c., and
brought forward also the well-known case of the Gastropod _Phorus_. He at the same time confessed that he could not see “where protection came in” in any of the cases which he cited. Mr. A.
O. Walker, on the other hand (NATURE, January 30, p. 296), regards it as obvious that the attachment of these foreign substances is a useful adaptation for purposes of concealment. Prof.
Herdman also (NATURE, February 13, p. 344) bears witness to the “scarcely recognizable” appearance of the crab _Hyas_ when covered with algæ, &c. Indeed, no one who has seen one of these
crabs brought up with the dredge, or has found a well-covered _Stenorhynchus_ on our own shores, can seriously doubt the usefulness of the habit in rendering the animal inconspicuous. In
_Stenorhynchus_ and _Inachus_ the process of “dressing” with weeds and zoophytes has been described by Bateson (Journ. Mar. Biol. Association, vol. i. 1889, p. 213), and it is seen from his
description that, as also in the cases of _Dorippe, Pagurus, Dromia vulgaris_, &c., the foreign substances or animals become attached to the body not by accident but by the act of the
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Contact customer support AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth WALTER GARSTANG Authors * WALTER GARSTANG View author
publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE GARSTANG, W. Foreign Substances
Attached to Crabs. _Nature_ 41, 417–418 (1890). https://doi.org/10.1038/041417b0 Download citation * Issue Date: 06 March 1890 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/041417b0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE
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