(Fabricius, 1787)
Carapace rhomboidal. Surface finely granulated, granules very close and coarse on marginal spines. Hepatic region separated from branchial region by a crease or a pucker. Rest of the region ill defined. The median line carinated. Branchial region with 2 oblique carinae. Front slightly projected, with 2 lobes, separated by the median V-shaped notch. The middle of the lateral margin with a slender sharp spine. Postero-lateral and posterior margins with 5 spines, the median one longer, the lateral one shorter, the one next to it the shortest.
Chelipeds symmetrical. Merus subcylindrical with fine granules, more closely spaced at its base. Carpus small. Fingers slender, longer than palm, inner borders finely serrated. Ambulatory legs slender. Merus with granules on its dorsal surface, dactylus fringed with short setae. Rest of the segments smooth.
First pleopod of the male slender and tapering, bluntly hollowed at the tip. Abdomen of the male sharp, triangular, third to fifth segments fused. Abdomen of the female elongate-rounded, third to sixth segments fused. Carapace length of the male 16.8-20 mm, breadth 15.7-18.7 mm; of the female, length 18.7 mm, breadth 18.5 mm (excluding lateral and posterior marginal spines). (Dai & Yang, 1991)
Type locality: Indian Ocean.
Range: Red Sea; Gulf of Aden (Galil, 2001a); Persian Gulf (Alcock, 1896); Strait of Hormuz (Stephensen, 1945); Mozambique Channel (Galil, 2001a); South Africa - (Galil, 2001a); off Zululand (Barnard, 1950); Madagascar (Galil, 2001a); Pakistan - Karachi (Tirmizi & Kazmi, 1991); India - (Galil, 2001a); Madras coast, Gangetic and Mahanaddi Deltas (Alcock, 1896), Gulf of Kuchi (Chhapgar, 1957), Madras (Tirmizi & Kazmi, 1991); Bay of Bengal (Tirmizi & Kazmi, 1991); Arakan (Alcock, 1896); Andaman Islands (Alcock, 1896); Japan - Kobe and Seto-naikai (Miers, 1886); East China Sea; China - Hong Kong (Miers, 1886), near Hong Kong (Stimpson, 1907), Shaotsun, Tsimei, and Xiamen, Fujian Province (Shen, 1940b), Guangdong including Hainan Island (Dai & Yang, 1991); South China Sea; Vietnam; Thailand; Philippines - Manila Bay and north of Lubang Island (Serène & Vadon, 1981), north of Lubang, south of Manila Bay and north of Panay (Chen H., 1989); Indonesia - Java and west of Flores (Ihle, 1918); Fiji, New Caledonia, Australia (Galil, 2001a); 7-182 m.