than
of the segmental body of a crustacean. The tail is either absent or
rudimentary and the two claws are modified into simple feelers,
protection from enemies being gained within the closed shell of the
host.
West
of Cossack the lobsters are more common, and in the Montebello Islands
they are almost universal. In Sooloo, the Mother-of-Pearl shells may
contain one, two, or three lobsters, but almost invariably the number
is two, while the crab is very rarely met with. Occasionally a shell is
found without any other inhabitant than its owner. When the shell is
closed the messmate retires within a hollow place, in the lower part of
the oyster itself, near\to the hinge of the shell, and this cavity is
called by Sooloo men, the "lobster's home."
The
idea that these messmates may play some important part in the formation
of Pearls seems to be a groundless speculation, and their general
formation as defenceless creatures, with great consuming powers, would
rather imply that they perform the service of scavengers, clearing the
shell of some of the foreign substances which drift into it and annoy
the oyster. Even as it is, the Meleagrinae often have to renovate
their shells, and are in the habit of burying such intruders as they
cannot rid themselves of. Stones, mud, small shells, wood, and more
