Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification -  photo : Bella Galil

SHORT DESCRIPTION Carapace convex, broad, subhexagonal. Regions of carapace well defined anteriorly, separated by smooth, shallow grooves. Front narrow, divided into two subquadrate submedian lobes. Orbital margin trifissured, inner angle of lower margin produced, triangulate, visible in dorsal view, outer angle tumid, ovoid. Antero-lateral margins of carapace quadrilobate, third, fourth lobes largest, gap between them widest. Posterior margin costate, short. Chelipeds sub-equal; palms massive, upper margin of palm with five granulate knobs, external surface with two low tubercles parallel with third, fourth knobs on upper margin, followed mid-palm by four rows of increasingly smaller rounded, granulate tubercles; lower margin bearing flattened granules. Walking legs slender. Male with seven separate abdominal segments; 4th-6th segments with lateral margins concave; last segment longer than two preceding segments. color : carapace whitish, with reddish tinge medially. common size : CL 2.2 cm (max.). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Male abdomen with elongate telson, twice as long as preceeding segment. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Poorly known. habitat : sandy bottoms, 2-60 m.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Israel, 2000 [1998]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Indo-West Pacific, Persian Gulf to Australia. Mediterranean : a single record from Israel (Galil, 2000 [1998]). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Known from a single record. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Presumably via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Galil B.S., 2000. Halimede tyche (Herbst, 1801) (Decapoda; Xanthoidea; Halimedinae) from the Mediterranean coast of Israel, with a review of the genus. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 20, special number 2: 325-331. Stephensen K., 1945. The Brachyura of the Iranian Gulf. With an Appendix: The male pleopoda of the Brachyura. Danish Scientific Investigations in Iran, 4: 57-237. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: 2009 ©ciesm 2002