(H. Milne Edwards, 1834)
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 of the carapace are better indicated and the furrows better developed; the internal branch of 2M is not separated from 3M by a furrow for all of its length; 2L+3L are fused; even 4L+5L+6L and 2R, 3R, 1P. Of the four rounded lobes on the antero-lateral margins the two posterior are more projecting and less rounded. The ambulatory legs are longer; the merus of P5 is more than 2.5 times longer than broad; the anterior margin of the carpus and propodus of P3 and P4 undulates, that of the merus is feebly carinate. The carapace and legs are a uniform dark red except for the cheliped fingers that are brownish-black. (Serène, 1984)
Type locality: Mauritius.
Range: Mauritius (H. Milne Edwards, 1834, Serène, 1984); Sri Lanka; Mergui Archipelago - (Alcock, 1898), Elphinstone Island (de Man, 1887b); Japan - (de Haan, 1835), Amami-Oshima (Stimpson, 1907), Sagami Bay (Odhner, 1925), Omae-zaki (Yokoya, 1933), Ito (Sakai, 1935), Sagami Bay, Shimoda, Wagu and Nagasaki (Sakai, 1939), Sagami Bay (Sakai, 1965b), Tokyo Bay, Sagami Bay, Izu Peninsula, Kii Peninsula, Tosa Bay, and Nagasaki (Sakai, 1976a), Yamagata Prefecture (Suzuki S., 1979), Kii Nagashima (Miyake, 1983); Taiwan; China - Guangxi and Hainan Island (Dai & Yang, 1991); Vietnam - (Serène, 1984), Nha Trang (Serène & Luom, 1960); Singapore (Lanchester, 1900); Sulu Archipelago - Jolo (Odhner, 1925); Palau (Takeda, 1976a); Indonesia - (Serène, 1984); Australia - Torres Strait (Haswell, 1882b, c), Port Molle (Miers, 1884a), Hermite Island, Monte Bello Islands and Cape Jaubert (Rathbun, 1914c, 1924), Holothuria Bank, Port Darwin, Mapoon, and Cape York (Odhner, 1925); New Caledonia; Tahiti (Ortmann, 1893); littoral to 30 m.