Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification Matuta banksii Leach, 1817 (cf. Galil and Golani, 1990)  drawing : Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Carapace subcircular, minutely granulate, bearing six dorsal tubercles centrally. Front trilobate, rostrum slightly emarginate. Antero-lateral margins of carapace crenulate, tuberculate. Lateral spine 0.2 carapace width. Tubercle at mid postero-lateral margin marked. Chelipeds subequal. External surface of palm sculptured. A finely milled ridge on outer surface of dactyl in male, absent in female. Walking legs with oar-like dactyls. color : carapace cream-colored covered with small red spots, more crowded anteriorly. Propodi and dactyls of walking legs marked with large red patches. common size : CL males 5.5 cm, females 5.1 cm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Walking legs end in oar-like dactyls. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Using paddle-shaped pereopods to bury itself in the sand. habitat : sandy, muddy-sand, subtidal.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Israel, 1990 [1987]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Indo-West Pacific, Red Sea to Australia. Mediterranean : a single record from Israel as Matuta banksii (Galil and Golani, 1990 [1987]). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Known only from a single record. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Presumably via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Galil and Golani, 1990. Two new migrant decapods from the eastern Mediterranean. Crustaceana, 58(3): 229-236. Galil B.S. and P.F. Clark, 1994. A revision of the genus Matuta Weber, 1795 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Calappidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden, 294: 1-55.   FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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