Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification -  photo: Jeanne Zaouali

SHORT DESCRIPTION Carapace little broader than long, depressed, branchial groove distinct, hepatic and branchial regions with oblique transverse ridges, lateral margin convex with one tooth behind outer orbital angle. Front deflexed. Chelipeds subequal, fingers apically spooned. Legs compressed, dactyls spinose. color : carapace dorsally pale greenish grey, mottled with dark brown. Legs indistinctly banded in dark brown. Underside pale and unmottled. Chelae dorsally mottled, the middle third pale violet on outer surface, fingers distally black. common size : up to CL 30 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Distinguished by its smaller size and the form of the male gonopod. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Agile, finds shelter among rocks at the waterline. habitat : rocky intertidal.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Tunisia, Zarzis, 2006. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : known only from the Red Sea (Holthuis, 1958, 1977). Mediterranean : Tunisia, Zarzis (Zaouali et al., 2007). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Single record. speculated reasons for success : unknown. MODE OF INTRODUCTION May have entered the Mediterranean in the fouling community of vessels traversing the Red Sea and the Suez Canal . IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Holthuis L.B., 1958. Hippide a and Brachyura (Dromiacea, Oxystomata and Grapsidea). Crustacea Decapoda from the northern Red Sea (Gulf of Aqaba and Sinai Peninsula). Contributions to the knowledge of the Red Sea. No. 9. Bulletin of the Sea Fisheries Research Station Haifa,17: 41-54. Holthuis L.B., 1977. The Grapsidae, Geocarcinidae and Palicidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) of the Red Sea. Israel Journal of Zoology,26: 141-192. Zaouali J., ben Souissi J., Galil BS., d’Udekem d’Acoz C. and ben Abdallah A., 2007. Grapsoid crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) new to the Sirte Basin, southern Mediterranean Sea – the roles of vessel traffic and climate change. JMBA-2, 5770: 4 p.   FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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