Charybdis hellerii A. Milne Edwards, 1867

Material examined (N=16). 1m, 19/IX/2000, 13°57'05”S / 38°59'68”W (MZUESC #09); 1m, 1f, 25/III/2005, St. 0 5 (MZUESC #687); 1f, 28/VIII/2004, St. 0 5 (MZUESC #720).

Distribution. Red Sea, Djibouti, Somalia, South Africa, Madagascar, Persian Gulf, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, New Caledonia, Australia, and Hawaii. Eastern Mediterranean – Egypt and Israel. Western Atlantic – Florida, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, French Guyana, and Brazil (from Ceará to Santa Catarina) (Dineen et al. 2001; Tavares & Amouroux 2003; Bezerra & Almeida 2005).

Ecological notes. This species has a preference for soft bottoms, but there are records from hard substrata such as rocks and corals (Lemaitre 1995). Mantelatto & Souza-Carey (1998) found juveniles in association with the bryozoan Schizoporella unicornis (Johnston, 1874) . Campos & Türkay (1989) and Dineen et al. (2001) reported individuals collected in mangrove roots ( Rhizophora mangle). Intertidal to 51 m (Lemaitre 1995).

Previous records in Bahia. Carqueija & Gouvêa (1996), Almeida et al. (2003, 2006).

Remarks. C. hellerii is a non-indigenous portunid crab of Indo-West Pacific origin. The occurrence of this species in Bahia was first reported by Carqueija & Gouvêa (1996), in Todos os Santos Bay. A further report, from Camamu Bay, was provided by Almeida et al. (2003). See Bezerra & Almeida (2005) for a summary of the Brazilian records of C. hellerii .