(Linnaeus, 1758)
Carapace very broad (breadth just over 2-21/3 times length); surface coarsely granulated, frequently with a short but dense pubescence between the granules; usually with recognizable mesogastric, epibranchial, and indistinct metagastric ridges, cardiac and mesobranchial ridges with low granular eminences; front with 4 acute teeth, outer pair larger and more prominent than inner ones; antero-lateral borders with 9 teeth, last one very large and projecting straight out laterally; postero-lateral junction rounded. Cheliped merus with postero-distal border spinous, anterior border with 3-4 (usually 4) sharp spines; carpus with inner and outer spines; lower surface of palm smooth. Posterior border of swimming leg without spines or spinules. (Türkay 1995)
Postero-lateral junction of carapace rounded; external surface of merus of 3rd maxilliped almost hairless, antero-external angle not produced laterally; carapace very broad, breadth almost twice length, may be covered with coarse granules; 4 frontal teeth or spines; hand of cheliped not distinctly swollen. (Davie 1999)
Type locality: Ambon, Indonesia.
Range: Red Sea - (Klunzinger, 1913), Suez and Massaua (Kossmann, 1877, Parisi, 1916), near Atlantis-II-deep (Apel & Spiridonov, 1998); Aden (Parisi, 1916); Zanzibar; Mozambique - Inhambane, Beira and Delagoa Bay (Barnard, 1950); South Africa - Durban Bay and Natal (Barnard, 1950); Madagascar (Crosnier, 1962); Persian Gulf - (Stephensen, 1945, Apel & Spiridonov, 1998), Abu Dhabi (Cooper, 1997); Strait of Hormuz (Stephensen, 1945); Gulf of Oman; Pakistan; India - Bombay, Karwar and Okha (Chhapgar, 1957); Sri Lanka - Colombo (Stephenson, 1972a); Mergui Archipelago; West Malay Peninsula - Thailand (Stephenson, 1972a); Strait of Malacca (Stephenson, 1972a); Japan - (Parisi, 1916), Tokyo Bay and Kochi (Ortmann, 1893), Nagasaki, Okinawa and Goto-retto (Parisi, 1916), Uwajima (Yokoya, 1933), Shimoda (Sakai, 1935), Kamakura and Shimoda (Sakai, 1939), Sagami Bay (Sakai, 1965b), Okinawa-jima and Iriomote-jima (Minei, 1971), from Sagami Bay to south Okinawa, Tsuruga Bay, and Yonago (Sakai, 1976a), Amakusa (Yamaguchi et al., 1976), Yamagata Prefecture (Suzuki S., 1979), Okukubi River, Okinawa (Shokita et al., 1998), Ginowan, Okinawa (Shokita et al., 2000); Korea - Sogwipo (Kamita, 1941), Cheju (Kim & Chang, 1985); Taiwan - (Parisi, 1916, Sakai, 1939), I-lan, Lan-Yü, Kaohsiung, P'eng-hu, Chi-lung, An-ping, and Hsiak'unhsen (Lin, 1949), Tai-tung Province, Tai-nan Province, Kaohsiung Province, P'eng-hu, and Chi-lung (Huang & Yu, 1997); China - Chinese coast (Stimpson, 1907), Hong Kong (Shen, 1934), Ningbo, Liuwutien, Xiamen, and Hainan Island (Shen, 1940b), Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Zhejiang (Dai & Yang, 1991); Malaysia - Kota Baharu and Terengganu (Lanchester, 1902), Terengganu (Stephenson, 1972a); Singapore (Dana, 1852, Nobili, 1903c, Shen, 1937, Stephenson, 1972a, Moosa, 1981); Philippines - near Masbate (Miers, 1886), Mindanao and Palawan (Stephenson, 1972a), Manila Bay (Moosa, 1981); Indonesia - Ambon and Noordwachter Island (de Man, 1888d), Makassar (Rathbun, 1910b), Kepulauan Kai (Stephenson, 1972a); Palau; Papua New Guinea - Bismarck Archipelago (Stephenson, 1972a); Australia - Double Island Point, Platypus Bay, and southern Queensland (Rathbun, 1923a), Broome (Rathbun, 1924c), Thursday Island to Southport, Queensland, Coffs Harbour to Bateman's Bay, N.S.W., Spencer Gulf, S.A., Cape Bossut, Roebuck Bay, Exmouth Gulf, and Fremantle, W.A., Port Essington, Darwin, Groote Island, and Sir Edwards Pellew Group, N.T. (Stephenson & Campbell, 1959), Moreton Bay (Stephenson, 1968b, Campbell & Stephenson, 1970), Port Hacking, N.S.W. (Griffin, 1972); New Caledonia - (Stephenson, 1972a), Nouméa (Takeda & Nunomura, 1976); North New Zealand; Tahiti; intertidal zone to 65 m.