(H. Milne Edwards, 1837)
Species with wide front, the carapace very slightly longer than three fifths the extreme width, the supraorbital border well arcuate and fairly oblique, the external orbital angles are pointed obliquely outward. The lateral borders are moderately convergent backward and the posterior border a little less than half the width of carapace. The width of front, measured between the bases of the eyestalks, is nearly one seventh that of the carapace. The major cheliped unarmed, the outer surface of palm smooth and the lower border marked with a faint ridge, which extends toward the base of the immovable finger, just above which is found a small depressed and rough surface; the inner surface of palm has two salient granular crests, one of which is deeply grooved and nearly vertical and becomes continuous with the dentary edge of the immovable finger; the other, which is very prominent is oblique and runs toward the lower border of the same finger. The fingers widely gaping, the movable finger being curved inward at the tip. (T. Sakai, 1939: 616)
Type locality: Mer des Indes.
Range: Red Sea (Nobili, 1906, Laurie, 1915, Balss, 1924a), Massawa, Green Island and Perim Island (Crane, 1975); Gulf of Aden - Obock (Crane, 1975); Somalia - Cojama Island (Parisi, 1938), Lac Badana, Yemn, Gesira, Bender Mtoni, Giumbo, and Banks of Giuba River (Vannini & Valmori, 1981); Kenya - near Mombasa (Crane, 1975); Zanzibar (Hilgendorf, 1869, Pfeffer, 1889, Ortmann, 1894, Lenz, 1905, Crane, 1975); Tanzania - Bagamoyo (Pfeffer, 1889), Lindi, Kilwa and Dar es Salaam (Ortmann, 1894), Lindi (Chace, 1942), Dar es Salaam (Hartnoll, 1975), Pemba (Crane, 1975); Mozambique - Inhambane (Hilgendorf, 1879), Delagoa Bay and Inhambane (Barnard, 1950), Inhaca Island (Gordon, 1958, Macnae & Kalk, 1958, Crane, 1975); South Africa - Natal (Stebbing, 1917c), Durban Bay (Boyce, 1924), Durban and mouth of Umgazana River (Barnard, 1950), Durban (Crane, 1975); Madagascar - Nosy Bé and Nosy Faly (Hoffmann, 1874), Nosy Bé (Lenz & Richters, 1881), near Canal de Mozambique (Fourmanoir, 1953), Nosy Bé, Majunga and Tuléar (Crosnier, 1965), north-west Madagascar (Crane, 1975); Mauritius (Richters, 1880, Bouvier, 1915b, Michel, 1964, Crane, 1975); Seychelles - (Borradaile, 1907b), Mahé (Crane, 1975); Persian Gulf (Nobili, 1906, Crane, 1975); Pakistan - Karachi (Crane, 1975); India - Pondicherry (White, 1847f), Madras (Heller, 1865), Chilka Lake (Kemp, 1915), Bombay (Altevogt, 1955), Bombay, Karwar, Okha, Kolak and Umarsadi (Chhapgar, 1957), Bombay, Ernakulam, Pondicherry, Karikal Marais, and Madras (Crane, 1975); Sri Lanka - (Heller, 1865), Gulf of Mannar (Gravely, 1927), Negombo (Crane, 1975); Andaman Islands (Sankarankutty, 1961); Nicobars (Heller, 1865); Burma - south-east Burma (Sewell, 1913), Rangoon (Crane, 1975); Mergui Archipelago (de Man, 1887c, 1891, Crane, 1975); Sumatra - Aceh (de Man, 1895a); Malay Peninsula - Pinang and Malacca (de Man, 1895a), Terengganu (Lanchester, 1902), Pinang, Malacca, Port Dickson, and Malacca Straits (Crane, 1975); Singapore (Dana, 1852, Crane, 1975); ?Japan - Okinawa (Balss, 1922c), Yaeyama-retto (Miyake, 1936); China - Hainan Island (Dai & Yang, 1991); Thailand - (Rathbun, 1910a), Songkhla (Lanchester, 1902); Laem Ngop and Koh Chang (Suvatti, 1938); Philippines - (Estampador, 1937, 1959), Zamboanga (Miers, 1886), Davao Gulf, Panay, Samar, and Palawan (Crane, 1975); Sulu Archipelago - Tawitawi (Crane, 1975); Borneo - Labuan (Tweedie, 1950d, Crane, 1975); Indonesia - Batjan (Miers, 1880b), Ambon and Noordwachter Island (de Man, 1888d), Celebes (de Man, 1892b), Ambon (Zehntner, 1894), Pontianak (de Man, 1895a), Ternate (de Man, 1902a), Makassar (Rathbun, 1910b), Bali (Gordon, 1934), Kepulauan Anambas, Pontianak, Jakarta, Madura, Besuki, Bantam Pruput, Makassar, and Parepare (Crane, 1975); Palau (Sakai, 1939, Miyake, 1939); New Caledonia (Forest & Guinot, 1961); Fiji (Miers, 1886); Samoa - Upolu (Ortmann, 1894a); Line Islands - Palmyra and Tabuaeran (Edmondson, 1923).