Rüppell, 1830
The lateral margins of the carapace have a defined epibranchial spine or tooth. The frontal margin is cut into four teeth or lobes more or less projecting; a deep antennal sinus separates the lateral frontal lobe and the internal superior orbital angle. The inferior margin of the cheliped palm is smooth (or sometimes very feebly serrulated in tigrina). The teeth of the front are blunt or lobed; the summits of the submedians reach and generally pass the level of the lateral teeth. The carapace is without regularly distributed spots, specks or lines of colour. The antero-lateral margins of the carapace are nearly straight and subparallel between the orbital angle and the epibranchial tooth. The cheliped palm has the external face naked and the superior margin rounded in transverse section. The first pleopod of the male is characteristically short. The carapace is either of a uniform reddish or yellowish-brown, or cream-white or clear nut-brown colour with a large transverse band of dark nut-brown or brick-red covering the frontal region; the cheliped palm has a network of the fine transverse irregular lines; The legs are furnished with little brick-red spots on the merus and with 2 or 3 broken lines, of the same colour, on the propodus and dactylus. (Serène, 1984)
Type locality: Red Sea.
Range: Red Sea (Rüppell, 1830, Heller, 1861, Kossmann, 1877, Castro, 1999a); Zanzibar (Lenz, 1905); Aldabra Islands (Lenz, 1905, Castro, 1999a); Mayotte (Castro, 1999a); Madagascar - (A. Milne Edwards, 1868, Fourmanoir, 1954), Nosy Bé (Serène, 1984), Nosy Bé, Tuléar and Tamatave (Castro, 1999a); Seychelles - (Richters, 1880), Praslin (Serène, 1984), Mahé and Praslin (Castro, 1999a); Saya de Malha Bank (Castro, 1999a); Réunion (Serène, 1984, Castro, 1999a); Mauritius (Michel, 1964, Castro, 1999a); Maldives - Addu Atoll (Castro, 1999a); Chagos Archipelago - Salomon and Egmont (Rathbun, 1911), Salomon, Egmont and Speakers Bank (Castro, 1999a); Andaman Sea - Phuket, Thailand (Castro, 1999a); east Sumatra - Simeuluë, Batu and Padang (Castro, 1999a, 1999b); Cocos Islands (Tweedie, 1950b, Castro, 1999a); Christmas Island (Castro, 1999a); Japan - Amami-Oshima (Ortmann, 1893), Amami-shoto and Yaeyama-retto (Sakai, 1976a), Ishigaki-jima (Miyake, 1983), Oshima Passage, Amami-Oshima (Takeda, 1989); Taiwan; China - Paracel Island (Chen & Lan, 1978), Hainan Island and Paracel Islands (Dai & Yang, 1991); Philippines - Mindanao (Ward, 1941, Castro, 1997b); Palau (Sakai, 1939); Indonesia - Banda Neira; New Britain - Kokopo near Rabaul (Takeda & Nunomura, 1976), Maratua Island, Borneo, Komodo, Amurang, Talisei Island, Karakelong Island, Obilatu, Ambon, Kupang Bay, Timor, Manokwari Bay, Biak and Jayapura, Irian Jaya (Castro, 1999b); Arafura Sea (Castro, 1999b); Australia - One Tree Island and Dunk Island (Castro, 1997a); Middleton Reef and Elizabeth Reef (Castro, 1997a); Lord Howe Island (Castro, 1997a); Chesterfield Island (Castro, 1997a); Bellona Reefs (Castro, 1997a); New Caledonia (Galil & Clark, 1990, Castro, 1997a); Loyalty Islands (Castro, 1997a); Vanuatu - Port Patterson (Castro, 1997a); Fiji (Miers, 1886); Samoa - Upolu (Dana, 1852); Society Islands - Bora-Bora (Rathbun, 1907), Moorea (Kropp & Birkeland, 1982), Tahiti, Moorea, Bora-Bora, Raiatea and Huahine (Castro, 1997b); Tuamotu Archipelago - Fakarava and Rangiroa (Rathbun, 1907), Hikueru, Tikehau, Rangiroa and Fakarava (Castro, 1997b).