Single Shells

The first species listed in this section is the Mediterranean counterpart of the famous abalone of the Pacific coast of North America.

Some of the species of the escargot de mer type, for example the murex, bequeath their shells to a curious marine partnership involving the hermit crab (Bernard l’ermite as the French call him) and the sea anemone. The hermit crab takes over an empty escargot de mer shell and turns it into his movable home. Sea anemones establish themselves on the outside of the shell, affording protection to the hermit crab and benefiting from the fact that the hermit crab will move his house from place to place and thus provide them with a series of new fishing grounds which they would not enjoy if they were anchored to a rock. The hermit crab is edible, but apparently not worth marketing, and certainly not as good as the original owners of the shells which he appropriates.