(Fabricius, 1781)
Surface of carapace minutely granular, more prominently so laterally; six mid-dorsal tubercles faintly developed, mesogastric tubercle largest; front with slightly rounded lobes laterally and an emarginate rostrum medially; antero-lateral margins with six tubercles behind exorbital angle, followed by three crenulate teeth; lateral spine 0.25 times carapace width. Cheliped palm with upper margin cut into three teeth, proximal tooth tuberculate; mid-palmar ridge in male rounded and extending to tip of fixed finger, proximally with a granulate tubercle followed by a prominent, acuminate spine; same region in female with five tubercles, the second being spine-like, the fourth triangular; lower proximal angle with a prominent acute spine.
Colouration: Carapace minutely spotted dorsally. (Türkay 1995)
Type locality: Malabar coast, India.
Range: Red Sea (Galil & Clark, 1995); Aden (Galil & Clark, 1995); Somalia - Mogadishu, Sar Uanle and Gesira (Galil & Clark, 1995); Zanzibar (Lenz, 1905, Galil & Clark, 1995); Tanzania - Dar es Salaam (Galil & Clark, 1995); Mozambique - Chinde, Mozambique and Delagoa Bay (Barnard, 1950), Morrumbene, Lourenço Marques Bay, and Beira Port (Galil & Clark, 1995); Mayotte Island (Galil & Clark, 1995); South Africa - Durban (Barnard, 1950); Madagascar - Nosy Bé (Lenz & Richters, 1881), Passandava Bay, Nosy Bé, Ile Sainte Marie, Fort Dauphin, St. Augustan (Galil & Clark, 1995); Mauritius (Michel, 1964); Oman - Muscat (Galil & Clark, 1995); Pakistan - Karachi (Alcock, 1896, Tirmizi & Kazmi, 1991), Karachi and Hab estuary, Baluchistan (Galil & Clark, 1995); India - Malabar coast (Fabricius, 1798), Ganges Delta, Mahanaddi Delta, Madras and Malabar coast (Alcock, 1896), Bombay, Karwar, Okha, and Umarsadi (Chhapgar, 1957), Madras, Pondicherry, Ratnagiri Beach, and Coromandel Coast (Galil & Clark, 1995); Sri Lanka (Ortmann, 1892, Alcock, 1896, Galil & Clark, 1995); Andaman Islands (Alcock, 1896, Galil & Clark, 1995); Indian Ocean (Galil & Clark, 1995); Burma - Tavoy and Arakan (Alcock, 1896), near Tavoy (Chopra & Das, 1937); Mergui Archipelago (Chopra & Das, 1937); Sumatra - Aceh (de Man, 1896b); Malay Peninsula - Pinang (Alcock, 1896, Lanchester, 1902), Pinang and Melaka (Galil & Clark, 1995); Japan - (Galil & Clark, 1995), Tokyo Bay (Ortmann, 1892), Ogasawara-shoto (Stimpson, 1907), Shimoda (Sakai, 1935), Tateyama Bay, Sagami Bay, Shimoda, Aichi Prefecture, Ise Bay, Kii Peninsula, Tosa Bay and Nagasaki (Sakai, 1937a), Amakusa, Sea of Ariake, Tsuyazaki, Tottori, Toyama and Niigata (Miyake et al., 1962), Sagami Bay (Sakai, 1965b), from Tokyo Bay to Kyushu, Okinawa (Sakai, 1976a), Shiono-misaki (Takeda, 1979a), Kushimoto (Miyake, 1983), Tsushima (Galil & Clark, 1995); Korea - Cheju-do (Kamita, 1941b), Cheju-do and Korea Strait (Kim, 1973); Taiwan - (Sakai, 1937a, Galil & Clark, 1995, Ng & Huang, 1997), Kaohsiung, P'eng-hu, Hsin-chu, Tan-shui, An-ping, Hsiak'unhsen, Wuch'i, Tingch'ieting, and Lu-kang (Lin, 1949); China - Hong Kong and North China Sea (Stimpson, 1907), Guantao, Chuanshih, Liuwutien, and Xiamen (Shen, 1940b), Hainan Island, Fujian (Dai & Yang, 1991), Hong Kong and Xiamen (Galil & Clark, 1995); Philippines - Zamboanga (Miers, 1886), Siquijor, Cuyo, Manila Bay, Negros, Mindoro, Gulf of Davao, and Zamboanga (Galil & Clark, 1995); Vietnam - Nha Trang Bay (Galil & Clark, 1995); Thailand - Katayai, Songkhla Channel, and Kcabi province (Galil & Clark, 1995); Singapore (Dana, 1852, Nobili, 1903c, Galil & Clark, 1995); Borneo - Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu (Galil & Clark, 1995); Indonesia - Ternate (Miers, 1886), Ambon (de Man, 1888d), Java (Ortmann, 1892), Java Sea (de Man, 1896b), Makassar (Rathbun, 1910b), Lombok, Makassar, Donggala, Karakelong Islands, Ceram and Kepulauan Kai (Ihle, 1918), Sumatra, Banda Sea, Rupat Island, Jakarta Bay, Tanjunk Priok, Poeloe Weh, Bali, Paleleh, Ujung Pandang, Sangihe Island, Johore, Molucca Id., Obi Island, Ranai, Ternate, and Borneo (Galil & Clark, 1995); Palau (Ortmann, 1892); Australia - Yampi Sound, Maud Landing, Point Cloates, Carnarvon, and Shark Bay (Tyndale-Biscoe & George, 1962), Torres Strait, Percy Island, Moreton Island, Shark Bay, and Yampi Sound (Galil & Clark, 1995); New Hebrides - Malekula (Galil & Clark, 1995); New Caledonia (Galil & Clark, 1995).