(Herbst, 1783)
Carapace very broad (breadth 2.0-2.5 times length), with 3 red spots in posterior half, persisting quite long in preserved specimens; surface finely granulated anteriorly, smooth posteriorly; with recognizable mesogastric, epibranchial, and metagastric ridges; front with 4 triangular teeth, outer pair broader and very slightly more prominent than inner ones; antero-lateral borders with 9 teeth, first clearly longer and much more pointed than following 7, last one very large and projecting straight out laterally; postero-lateral junction rounded. Cheliped merus with postero-distal border smooth, anterior border with 3-4 sharp spines; carpus with inner and outer spines; lower surface of palm smooth. Posterior border of swimming leg without spines or spinules. (Türkay 1995)
Postero-lateral junction of carapace rounded; external surface of merus of third maxilliped densely hirsute, antero-external angle not produced laterally; carapace very broad, breadth almost twice length; 4 frontal teeth or spines. In live or fairly recently preserved specimens, posterior of carapace with three large red spots; carapace plain, without meshwork pattern background colour. (Davie 1999)
Type locality: unknown.
Range: Red Sea (Klunzinger, 1913); Persian Gulf (Stephensen, 1945); Strait of Hormuz (Stephensen, 1945); Gulf of Oman (Stephensen, 1945); Mozambique - Mozambique Channel (Lenz, 1905), Delagoa Bay (Barnard, 1950); South Africa - Cape St. Blaize, Durban, Agulhas Bank, and Zululand (Barnard, 1950); Madagascar (Crosnier, 1962); Mauritius (Michel, 1964); Karachi (Alcock, 1899a, Stephenson, 1972a); India - Bombay and Karwar (Chhapgar, 1957); Maldives - Miladunmadulu Atoll (Rathbun, 1902b); Sri Lanka (Alcock, 1899a); Andaman Islands; Nicobar Islands (Alcock, 1899a, Stephenson, 1972a); Burma - Maungmagan, near Tavoy (Chopra & Das, 1937); West Malay Peninsula - Pinang (Alcock, 1899a), Thailand (Stephenson, 1972a); Japan - Tokyo Bay and Kochi (Ortmann, 1893), Shimoda (Sakai, 1935), Sagami Bay and Shimoda (Sakai, 1939), Hachijo-jima (Sakai, 1954), Sagami Bay (Sakai, 1965b), Tokyo Bay, Sagami Bay, Izu Peninsula, Mikawa Bay, Kii Nagashima, Kii Minabe, Tosa Bay, Amami-shoto, and Okinawa (Sakai, 1976a), Yamagata Prefecture (Suzuki S., 1979), Shiono-misaki (Takeda, 1979a), Tanabe Bay (Miyake, 1983); Korea - Yeong-il Bay, Pusan and Seogwipo (Kamita, 1941), Cheju-do (Kim, 1973); Taiwan - Su-ao, Kaohsiung, Chi-lung, Hsiak'unhsen, and Tingch'ieting (Lin, 1949), Kaohsiung Province, Ping-tung Province, and I-lan Province (Huang & Yu, 1997); China - near Hong Kong (Stimpson, 1907, Shen, 1931), Wenzhou, Santuao, Shaotsun, Fuzhou, Tsimei, Liuwutien, and Xiamen (Shen, 1940b), Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian (Dai & Yang, 1991); Singapore (Dana, 1852, Shen, 1937, Stephenson, 1972a); Philippines - Bucas Grande (Stephenson, 1972a); Indonesia - Ternate (Miers, 1886), Ambon and Noordwachter Island (de Man, 1888d), Makassar (Rathbun, 1910b), Java and Banda (Stephenson, 1972a); Admiralty Islands - Palm Island (Stephenson, 1968b); Australia - south Australian coast (Miers, 1886), Double Island Point (Rathbun, 1923a), Cape Jaubert (Rathbun, 1924c), Kennedy Sound, Darnley Island, Endeavour River, Port Curtis, Double Island Pt., Moreton Bay, Port Jackson, Broken Bay, Parramatta River, Exmouth Gulf, and Geraldton (Stephenson & Campbell, 1959), Albatross Bay, Cairns, Stradbroke Island, Moreton Bay and Exmouth Gulf (Stephenson, 1968b), Moreton Bay (Campbell & Stephenson, 1970); Lord Howe Island (Stephenson, 1968b); New Caledonia (Stephenson, 1972a); Hawaiian Islands - Sandwich Island (Dana, 1852), Honolulu (Miers, 1886), Oahu, Molokai, Hawaii, Pailolo Channel, Auau Channel and Maui (Rathbun, 1906), Hilo, Oahu and Pearl Harbor (Stephenson, 1976); 5-30 m.