H. Milne Edwards, 1834
The carapace is oval in its outline and evenly convex in both directions; the dorsal surface is entirely naked and ill-defined, being almost smooth to the unaided eye. The front bears a submarginal ridge and is composed of four subequal teeth that are obtuse at the summits and separated from each other by a wide and deep sinus; each of the outer teeth is weakly directed obliquely forwards, forming the lateral angle of the front. The supraorbital border is rather raised and bears a small but distinct notch near the external orbital angle; the infraorbital angle bears two notches, the smaller one just below the external orbital angle and the other larger one near the inner infraorbital angle which is tuberculated. The ventral prolongation of the front is widely clasped by the stout basal segment of the antenna.
The antero-lateral border of the carapace is distinctly separated from the external orbital angle by a deep depression; it is cut into five lobes by four small indentations, each lobe being not protruded from the general contour of the arched antero-lateral border; the first is shorter than the second and third which are subequal; the anterior end of the first is extended to the level of the external orbital angle the fourth is smaller than the preceedings and more or less angulated at the anterior end; the fifth is rather obtuse and is the smallest of the series.
The chelipeds are quite unequal, but the formation of the meri and carpi of both chelipeds are alike; the upper border of each merus is unarmed, while the inner angle of the carpus is strongly angulated; the palm of the larger chela is very high, being about twice the height of the smaller palm; the outer surface of each palm is almost smooth without granules and hairs; the fingers of the larger chela are strong and leave a wide gape when they are closed; the lower border of the immovable finger is convex in accordance with the gape; in the larger chela the movable finger bears a very large proximal tooth and some small ones on the cutting edge and the immovable finger bears two larger median, molar-like teeth and a smaller subdistal one, while the cutting edges of the smaller fingers are rather acutely but irregularly toothed; in the larger chela the dark colour of the immovable finger is slightly extended onto the palm towards both the upper and the lower borders; in the smaller chela the colours of both fingers are restricted to their distal halves. The ambulatory legs are long and stout; the distal upper part of the carpus, the greater surface of the propodus and the entire surface of the dactylus except for the terminal small claw are covered with tomenta. (Takeda, 1972a)
Type locality: Australia.
Range: Red Sea (A. Milne Edwards, 1873); Madagascar - Diégo-Suarez and Tamatave; Mauritius (Michel, 1964); Japan - Okinawa-jima (Takeda, 1972a), Iriomote-jima (Sakai, 1976a); Taiwan; China - Hainan Island (Dai & Yang, 1991); Indonesia - Noordwachter Island (de Man, 1888d); Palau (Sakai, 1976a); Torres Strait; Australia; New Britain - Rabaul (Takeda & Nunomura, 1976); Solomon Islands - Bougainville Island (Takeda & Nunomura, 1976); New Caledonia; Samoa.