Specificity of hermit crab attraction to gastropod predation sites.

Chemical cues are important to hermit crabs in location of shells. The type of gastropod flesh at a predation site (area where a gastropod is being consumed) influences species of crabs attracted to the site. Additionally, amount of flesh at a site is an important factor influencing relative size of the site attendants. Chemical information broadcast from natural predation sites appears highly specific and may serve to separate shell searching of various sizes and species of hermit crabs in time and space.