(Linnaeus, 1764)
Carapace broader than long, roundly rhombic; dorsal surface depressed, regions well defined, covered with rather sharp tubercles, denser on the posterior than on the anterior half. Rostrum very short, distal portion divided into 3 teeth, of which the middle one sharper and more projecting. Orbit round, anterior half of dorsal margin convex, with a hiatus at the median; ventralorbital tooth triangular, with a denticle below it. Antero-lateral margin of carapace composed of about 10 irregular teeth, of which the distal four-five larger. Postero-lateral margin with a hook-shaped spines. Posterior margin with 2 teeth in the median and hook-shaped spinules at each end.
Chelipeds large and elongate, more than 4 times as long as the length of the carapace. Ambulatory legs slender and depressed; merus serrated along anterior and posterior margins, those on the posterior margin being more conspicuous; carpus smooth; dactylus longer than propodus.
First pleopod of the male curved exteroventrally, tip thumb-shaped, armed with fine spinules on the outer, and long spines on the inner side. Male abdomen with third to fifth segments more or less fixed, sixth segment with a median sharp tooth. Female abdomen broadly oval, first to fourth segments each with processes, but fifth to seventh smooth; telson broadly triangular. Carapace length of the male 23 mm, breadth 25; of the female, length 23-30.4 mm, breadth 24-37 mm.
Habitat: muddy-sandy bottoms, 60-70 m deep. (Dai & Yang, 1991)
Type locality: unknown.
Range: Mauritius (Michel, 1964); Cargados Carajos (Rathbun, 1911); Saya de Malha Bank (Rathbun, 1911); Persian Gulf (Stephensen, 1945); Pakistan - Manora, Karachi (Tirmizi & Kazmi, 1991); India - Madras coast (Alcock, 1895a), Pondicherry, Travancore; Sri Lanka; Andaman Islands (Alcock, 1895a); Arakan and Mergui Archipelago (Alcock, 1895a); Japan - Kii Peninsula (Sakai, 1976a), Oshima Passage, Amami-Oshima (Takeda, 1989); Taiwan (Lin, 1949); Gulf of Thailand; Malaysia - Kota Baharu, Kelantan (Lanchester, 1902); Singapore (Nobili, 1903c); Philippines - north of Lubang Island (Serène & Vadon, 1981); South China Sea - Nansha Islands (Chen & Xu, 1991); Indonesia - Ambon (Miers, 1886), Kepulauan Aru (Flipse, 1930), Ambon and Padang (Flipse, 1931), Dobo and south of Borneo (Ng & Rahayu, 2000), Sulawesi, Java; south of New Guinea (Miers, 1886); Australia - Moreton Bay (Campbell & Stephenson, 1970), off Cape Moreton (Griffin, 1972), from Darnley Island to southern Coral Sea; 25-70 m.