Relevant Synonyms Leucosia signata Paulson, 1875 Misidentification -  drawing : Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Carapace markedly convex, nearly hemispherical, smooth. Frontal region narrowed, upturned. Orbits deep, completely concealing minute eyes. Lateral epibranchial angle bent downwards to base of cheliped, forming eave of deep, sinuous thoracic depression. Epibranchial margin of carapace thickened, milled, continuous with finely-milled crest that forms posterior margin of dorsum of carapace. Chelipeds symmetrical, massive, ornamented, longer in males. Walking legs short, slender. color : carapace with M-shaped brownish mark anteriorly, two submedian spots posteriorly, walking legs with brown band basally on carpi, propodi, dactyls, distally on meri. common size : CL 2.5 cm (max.). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Carapace globular, smooth; thoracic depression above base of cheliped; chelipeds basally prominently tuberculate. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Poorly known. habitat : subtidal to 22 m, on muddy and sandy gravel bottoms, with Halophila.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Israel, 1956 [1953]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Indo-West Pacific. Mediterranean : recorded first from Israel (Holthuis, 1956 [1953]); successively recorded from Egypt (Ramadan and Dowidar, 1976); Lebanon (Shiber, 1981); southern Turkey (Grippa, 1982 [1976]; Kocatas, 1981a), Syria (Saker and Farah, 1994). One specimen was collected in the Gulf of Afandou, east coast of Rhodes I., Greece, in August 2005 (Corsini Foka et al., 2006). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Rare. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal (Fox, 1926). IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Corsini Foka M., P. Maries and E. Santorinios, 2006. First record of the exotic brachyuran Leucosia signata from Rhodes. Proceedings of the 8th Hellenic Symposium on Oceanography and Fisheries, Thessalonikis, 4-8 June, 2006 (electronic format). Holthuis L.B., 1956. Notes on a collection of Crustacea Decapoda from the Great Bitter Lake, Egypt, with a list of species of Decapoda known from the Suez Canal. Zoologische Mededelingen, Leiden, 34(22): 301-330.   FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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