(Forskål, 1775)
Carapace smooth and glabrous with exception of granular lines on the gastric regions and an epibranchial line starting from the tip of the last antero-lateral tooth and reaching to the branchial regions; front with 4 subequal and equally spaced teeth with acute to rounded tips; antero-lateral borders with 9 very acute and subequal teeth, last one the smallest. Basal antennal joint short and broad, with a lobule at its antero-external angle. Chelipeds heterochelous; merus with 3 spines on anterior border and 2 spines on posterior; carpus with a strong spine on inner corner and another on outer face; propodus with 2 acute spines at distal end of upper face and a strong knob on inner face at base of fixed finger. Swimming leg without spines on posterior border of either of the joints. (Türkay 1995)
Carpus of chelipeds with two obvious spines on distal half of outer margin. Frontal lobe spines high (mean height c. 0.06 times frontal width measured between medial orbital sutures), bluntly pointed with tendency to concave margins and rounded interspaces; antero-lateral carapace spines narrow, with outer margin straight or slightly concave. Chelipeds and legs all with polygonal patterning for both sexes, and on abdomen of female only. (Davie 1999)
Type locality: Red Sea.
Range: Red Sea - central coast of Yemen (Keenan et al., 1998), Jeddah (Apel & Spiridonov, 1998); Gulf of Aden - Djibouti (Apel & Spiridonov, 1998); Mozambique - Delagoa Bay, Inhambane, Beira, Chinde and Mozambique (Barnard, 1950); South Africa - Algoa Bay (MacLeay, 1838), Durban Bay (Stebbing, 1910), Plettenberg Bay (Barnard, 1950), Richard's Bay (Keenan et al., 1998); Madagascar (Crosnier, 1962, Stephenson, 1972a); Mauritius (Michel, 1964, Keenan et al., 1998); India - Calcutta (Parisi, 1916), Bombay, Karwar and Kolak (Chhapgar, 1957), Port Canning (Stephenson, 1975); Burma - near Tavoy (Chopra & Das, 1937); Mergui Archipelago (Chopra & Das, 1937); Japan - (de Haan, 1835), Kochi (Ortmann, 1893), Okinawa (Stimpson, 1907), Zushi and Hondo (Parisi, 1916), Shimoda (Sakai, 1935), Zushi and Shimoda (Sakai, 1939), Sagami Bay (Sakai, 1965b), Amami-Oshima, Okinawa-jima, Kume-jima, and Iriomote-jima (Minei, 1971), Nagasaki (Stephenson, 1972a), mouth of Tone-gawa, Sagami Bay, Shimoda, Kii Nagashima, Kii Minabe, Tosa Bay, and Ishigaki-jima (Sakai, 1976a), Amakusa (Yamaguchi et al., 1976), Okinawa (Miyake, 1983), Kikonai, Hokkaido (Komai et al., 1992), Okinawa (Keenan et al., 1998), Ginowan, Okinawa (Shokita et al., 2000); Korea - Geoje Island (Kamita, 1941); Taiwan - Chi-lung (Sakai, 1939), Su-ao, Chi-lung, P'eng-hu, Lu-kang, Chiukang, and Hsiak'unhsen (Lin, 1949), Tai'nan, Kaohsiung, and Chi-lung (Huang & Yu, 1997), Kaohsiung (Keenan et al., 1998); China - Hong Kong (Shen, 1932), Hainan Island (Shen, 1936), Ningbo, Shaotsun, Fuzhou, Liuwutien, Tsimei, Xiamen, and Hainan Island (Shen, 1940b), Shanghai (Stephenson, 1972a), Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang (Dai & Yang, 1991); Vietnam - Nha Trang (Serène, 1952); Singapore (Nobili, 1903c, Shen, 1937, Stephenson, 1972a); Philippines - Panay Island (Keenan et al., 1998); Indonesia - Edam Island (de Man, 1888d), Bay of Bima, Makassar, Karakelong Islands, Nias, Deli, Kepulauan Aru, Moro, Jakarta, Djangkar, and Java Sea (Leene, 1938), Java Sea (Stephenson, 1972a), Jakarta, Kaledupa, Nabire and Jayapura, Irian Jaya (Stephenson, 1975), Kupang, Timor; Arafura Sea; Admiralty Islands - Palm Island (Stephenson, 1972a); Solomon Islands - (Keenan et al., 1998), Bougainville (Takeda & Nunomura, 1976); Australia - Cape York, Flinders I., Cooktown, Townsville, Bloomfield R., Mackay, Gladstone, Burnett R., Caboolture R., Caloundra, Brisbane R., Clontarf, Southport, Port Jackson, Sailors Bay, Middle Harbour, Sydney, Broome and Darwin (Stephenson & Campbell, 1960), Moreton Bay (Keenan et al., 1998), Aspley (Apel & Spiridonov, 1998), from Broome, W.A., north and east to N. Territory, Queensland, and in New South Wales to Port Hacking; New Caledonia - (Stephenson, 1972a, Keenan et al., 1998), Poum (Takeda & Nunomura, 1976); Fiji - (Keenan et al., 1998), Suva (Stephenson, 1972a); Western Samoa - (Keenan et al., 1998), Navigator Island (Dana, 1852); Hawaiian Islands; Tahiti (Miers, 1886); New Zealand; river mouth or estuary, not far from shore.