Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification Alpheus edwardsii (Audouin, 1826) (cf. Lewinsohn and Galil, 1982)  photo : Bella Galil

SHORT DESCRIPTION Rostrum triangular, reaching near end of first antennular article. Orbital hoods lacking frontal spine. Large chela 2.3 times as long as broad. Superior margin of chela proximal to dactyl transversely grooved, proximal edge overhanging. Groove extending on inner palm as shallow triangular depression, on outer palm as marked quadrangular depression. Inferior margin of chela deeply notched opposite superior groove. Cheliped merus bearing an acute tooth distally on internal margin. Small chela sexually dimorphic, in male - balaeniceps. Ischium of third pereopod bearing prominent spine. color : carapace and abdomen greyish-green, abdomen with seven longitudinal rows of white spots, tips of pleura with a white spot. Tail fan proximally pale, distally bluish with brown setae. Antennulae, antennae bluish grey. Chelipeds bluish grey, finger tips brown. Pereopods pink. common size : TL 4 cm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Large cheliped merus armed with spine distally on internal margin, inner lip of notch on upper surface of chela overhanging. Orbital hoods unarmed, autochthonous species with large grooved chela have spinose orbital hoods. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Poorly known. habitat : living in burrows among rock and rubble in shallow water; intertidal to 25 m.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Egypt, 1926 [1924]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Indo-West Pacific, Red Sea to New Zealand and Hawaii. Mediterranean : recorded first from Egypt (Fox, 1926 [1924]), subsequently from Israel (Holthuis, 1956), southwestern coast of Turkey in June 2002 near Fethiye (Buzburun) (Grippa and Froglia pers. obs, in press). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Common along the Israeli coast. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal (Fox, 1926). IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Banner D.M. and A.H. Banner, 1982. The alpheid shrimp of Australia. Part III: The remaining alpheids, principally the genus Alpheus, and the family Ogyrididae. Records of the Australian Museum, 34(1-2): 1-362. Chace F. A., 1988. The Caridean Shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda) of the Albatross Philippine Expedition, 1907-1910, Part 5: Family Alpheidae. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 466: 1-99. Fox H.M., 1926. General part. Zoological results of the Cambridge expedition to the Suez Canal, 1924. I. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 22: 1-64. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: September 2003 ©ciesm 2002