Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification -  photo: Bella Galil

SHORT DESCRIPTION Rostrum sharply pointed, rostral carina reaching posteriorly beyond middle of carapace, medially bearing blunt tooth. Eyes covered by unarmed ocular hoods. Cervical groove present in posterior half of carapace. Small median tubercle near posterior margin of carapace. Chelipeds elongate, slender, unequal. Palm of larger chela subcylindrical, lacking grooves or ridges, chela 6-7 times as long as high, fingers less than half as long as palm. color : carapace, chelipeds orange; rostrum, antero-lateral, posterior margins red. Abdominal segments posteriorly red. Tail fan red. Second and fifth legs pale pink. common size : CL 0.7 cm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Chelipeds extremely long. Carapace bearing medially two tubercles. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Poorly known. habitat : 27-62 m, muddy bottom.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Egypt, 1978 [1975]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Red Sea. Mediterranean : recorded first from the northern Sinai (Egypt) and Israeli coasts (Lewinsohn and Holthuis, 1978 [1975]); later recorded from southern Turkey (Kocatas et al., 2002 [1994]). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Common along the Israeli coast. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Presumably via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Dworschak P.C. and P. Pervesler, 2002. Alpheus migrans Lewinsohn & Holthuis, 1978 (Decapoda, Caridea, Alpheidae): burrow morphology and first record from the Red Sea. Crustaceana, 75(3-4): 351-357. Kocatas A., T. Katagan and A.S. Ates, 2002. Lessepsian invasion decapod crustaceans at Turkish seas. In: Öztürk B. and N. Basusta (eds.), Workshop on Lessepsian Migrations. Turkish Marine Research Foundation Publication, 9: 56-58. Lewinsohn C. and L.B. Holthuis, 1978. On a new species of Alpheus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Natantia) from the Eastern Mediterranean. Zoologische Mededelingen, 53(7): 75-82.   FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: November 2002 ©ciesm 2002