Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification -  drawing : Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Carapace evenly granulate. Four frontal teeth between orbits, submedian pair nearly half length of lateral pair. Nine antero-lateral teeth, hindmost tooth largest, extending laterally. Chelipeds stout, longer than walking legs; merus with three stout spines on inner margin, and one subdistal external spine; carpus lacking internal spine; upper surface of palm with granulate carinae ending in spines. Walking legs compressed, fifth walking leg with broad propodus and dactylus. Male abdomen with segments 3-5 fused, shaped as an inverted T. Male first pleopods extend to sixth thoracic sternite, tips bent ventro-laterally. color : carapace olive, cheliped with upper part indigo to purple, lower part purple to blue; teeth and spines on chela white tipped, walking legs light blue. common size : males CL 5.8 cm (max.), width 14.0 cm (max.), females CL 4.8 cm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Distinguished from C. sapidus in having four frontal teeth rather than two; first male pleopods not extending beyond abdominal locking tubercle. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Spawning season probably extends the year around over the range (Williams, 1984). habitat : muddy estuaries, mangroves, open coast, hypersaline lagoons; to 75 m.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Venice lagoon, Italy, 1993 [1981]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Western Atlantic from North Carolina (USA) to Brazil. Mediterranean : a single record from Venice lagoon, Italy (Mizzan, 1993 [1981]). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Known from a single record. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Probably ship-borne. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Melo G.A.S., 1996. Manual de identificação dos Brachyura (Caranguejos e siris) do litoral brasileiro. Ed. Plêiade: São Paulo, Brazil. 603 pp. Mizzan L., 1993. Presence of swimming crabs of the genus Callinectes (Stimpson) (Decapoda, Portunidae) in the Venice Lagoon (North Adriatic Sea - Italy). Bolletino del Museo civico di Storia naturale di Venezia, 42: 31-43. Williams A.B., 1984. Shrimps, lobsters, and crabs of the Atlantic coast of the Eastern United States, Maine to Florida. Smithsonian Institution Press. 550 pp.   FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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