(White, 1847)
The front is not noticeably projecting. The carapace, chelipeds, sternal plastron and abdomen are smooth or granular or stippled but never sponge-like as in species of the subgenus Actites. The ambulatory legs are never with cristiform carinae on their anterior and posterior margins; they are smooth or granular and sometimes nodular. The ambulatory legs are shorter and more squarish; the merus of P4 is less than three times longer than broad. In adult males the extremity of the cheliped merus does not extend (or hardly) beyond the margin of the carapace. The first pleopod of the male is of a diverse shape but never terminates as a short rounded lobe; it is always furnished with more or less numerous setae, usually arranged in a row on one margin of the preapical part. The carapace, chelipeds and ambulatory legs have the surface very finely granular or punctate, conveying a more or less smooth aspect to the unaided eye; the regions of the carapace are feebly indicated; 2M is often undivided and, in all cases, never divided longitudinally throughout its length. The carapace is strongly convex longitudinally and feebly transversely, the surface has a smooth aspect with the regions feebly or moderately indicated; the antero-lateral margin of 3M is not separated from 2M for the whole of its length. The regions are poorly indicated; there is the beginning of a furrow on the anterior margin of 2M; the antero-lateral margins are divided into 4 feeble rounded lobes. On the chelipeds of adult males the black pigment on the fixed finger extends backwards onto the palm and even sometimes encircles is. The ambulatory legs are short and squat. The merus of P5 is about 2 times longer than broad. The adults are entirely reddish-violet in colour; the very young have a white carapace and reddish-violet legs; gradually during growth the reddish-violet invades the carapace leaving only the margins with a white band which progressively diminishes and then disappears. (Serène, 1984)
Type locality: Philippines.
Range: Red Sea (Nobili, 1906); Gulf of Aden - Djibouti (Odhner, 1925); Mozambique - Delagoa Bay (Barnard, 1950); Iles Europa (Lenz, 1910, Odhner, 1925); Madagascar - Nosy Bé (Serène, 1984); Iles Glorieuses (Serène, 1984); Coëtivy Islands (Rathbun, 1911); Mauritius (Alcock, 1898, Bouvier, 1915b, Odhner, 1925, Michel, 1964); Muscat (Alcock, 1898); Chagos Archipelago (Rathbun, 1911); Sri Lanka - Galle and Trincomalee (Odhner, 1925); Andaman Islands (Alcock, 1898); Japan - Okinawa (Stimpson, 1907), Ise Bay, Tosa Bay and Kyushu (Sakai, 1939), Kii Nagashima, Kii Minabe, Tosa Bay, Ashizuri-misaki, Yoron-jima, and Ishigaki-jima (Sakai, 1976a); Taiwan - P'eng-hu (Lin, 1949); China - Paracel Islands (Dai & Yang, 1991); Vietnam - Nha Trang (Serène & Luom, 1960); Philippines (White, 1847); Indonesia - Sunda Strait, Makassar, Spermonde Archipelago, Timor, and Salawati (Odhner, 1925); Palau (Takeda, 1976a); Australia - Torres Strait (Calman, 1900), Sydney (Muraoka, 1998); Gilbert Islands - Aranuka (Odhner, 1925); Fiji (Dana, 1852, Odhner, 1925); Samoa (Odhner, 1925); Tonga (Odhner, 1925); Line Islands - Palmyra (Edmondson, 1923); Tahiti (Heller, 1865); west coast of America - from Lower California to Galapagos Islands; littoral to 35 m.