Relevant Synonyms Charybdis (Goniohellenus) hoplites var. longicollis Leene, 1938 Misidentification -  photo : Bella Galil

SHORT DESCRIPTION Carapace hexagonal, convex, densely tomentose. Granulate transverse ridges on frontal, protogastric, mesogastric and branchial regions. Front cut into six teeth, outermost tooth the most acuminate. Antero-lateral margin bearing six teeth, four anterior teeth square cut, with outer margins serrate, separated by deep notches, posteriormost tooth lanceolate, twice as large as others. Basal antennal article expanded, bearing 5-8 granules, excluding antennal flagellum from orbit. Chelipeds massive, subequal, pubescent, granulate; anterior margin of merus with 2-3 teeth; carpus, prominently granulate, with single spine on internal margin, three small spines on external surface; internal ridge on superior surface of chela bearing two spines, external ridge with single spine, single spine near carpal articulation. Merus of fifth leg with strong subdistal spine on posterior margin, posterior margin of propodus denticulate, dactyl ovate. color : carapace dull brownish-grey save for cream-coloured margins and raised granules. Inner margins of cheliped fingers mustard-yellow. Pereopods brownish-grey with violet-blue margins. common size : males CL 3 cm, females CL 2.5 cm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Distinguished from Ch. hellerii by carpus of fifth leg lacking posterior spine and squamiform granules on lower surface of chela. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Since the early 1990s the Israeli population has been heavily infested by the rhizocephalan parasite Heterosaccus dollfusi Boschma, itself an Erythrean exotic (Galil and Lützen, 1995). habitat : sandy, sandy-mud bottoms, 10-80 m.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Turkey, 1961 [1959]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Red Sea, East Africa, Persian Gulf. Mediterranean : recorded first from Turkey (Holthuis, 1961 [1959]). Successively recorded from Israel (Lewinsohn and Holthuis, 1964); Egypt (Ramadan and Dowidar, 1976); Lebanon (Shiber, 1981); Cyprus (Lewinsohn and Holthuis, 1986); Greece, Rhodes Isl. (Galil and Kevrekidis, 2002); Syria (Hasan et al., 2008); Turkey, Datca Peninsula (Yokes et al., 2007). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Abundant since the 1960's. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal (Monod, 1937). IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS Considered a pest by trawl fishermen.

KEY REFERENCES Holthuis L.B., 1961. Report on a collection of Crustacea Decapoda and Stomatopoda from Turkey and the Balkans. Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden, 47: 1-67. Stephenson W., 1972. An annotated check list and key to the Indo-West-Pacific swimming crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae). Bulletin of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 10: 1-64.   FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: October 2008 ©ciesm 2002