Charybdis hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867 )

Parasram, Nadeshinie, Santana, William & Vallès, Henri, 2023, Checklist of the shallow-water marine Brachyura (Crustacea: Decapoda) of Barbados, West Indies, Zootaxa 5314 (1), pp. 1-62 : 35-36

Charybdis hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867)

( Fig. 17A )

Goniosma hellerii A. Milne-Edwards, 1867: 282 [type-localities: India, New Caledonia].

Charybdis vannamei Ward, 1941: 4 , figs. 5–6.

Charybdis hellerii . — Lemaitre 1995: 643, fig. 2; Mantelatto & Dias 1999: 617; Mantelatto & Garcia 2001: 469; Bertini et al. 2004: 2198; Coelho et al. 2008: 31; Boos et al. 2012: 1033; Ferry et al. 2017: 239–246; Questel 2017: 1; Negril et al. 2018: 1771; Poupin 2018: 208; Mantelatto et al. 2020: 65, fig. 181.

Distribution. Western Atlantic, Indo-Pacific, and Eastern Mediterranean. Western Atlantic: USA (South Carolina to Florida), Cuba, St. Martin, St. Barthélemy, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Barbados, Isla de Margarita, Tortuga, Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil; Indo-Pacific: Japan, Philippines, Australia, New Caledonia, Hawaii and throughout the Indian Ocean; Eastern Mediterranean: Israel and Egypt ( Lemaitre 1995; Negril et al. 2018; Poupin 2018; present study).

Material examined. Barbados, Port St. Charles, St. Peter , subtidal, 13°15’51.81”N, 59°038’36.34”W, 1 Ô CW: 11.1 mm ( BLSZ 053 ) . Idem , 1 Ô CW: 69.3 mm ( BLSZ 019 ) . Heron Bay, St. James , subtidal, 13°11’48.97”N, 59°38’35.49”W, 1 (juv.) CW: 9.1 mm ( BLSZ 169 ) . Batts Rock , St. Michael, subtidal, 13°08’04.81”N, 59°038’12.30”W, 1 ♀ CW: 12.5 mm ( BLSZ 166 ) . Brandons , St. Michael, subtidal, 13°06’59.88”N, 59°37’44.52”W, 1 Ô CW: 10.7 mm ( MZUSP 40915 ) .

Remarks. This is the first record of Charybdis hellerii from Barbados. Caught in crab traps (~ 4 m deep) on the west coast of Barbados. Charybdis hellerii can be identified by two ocelli in the protogastric region of carapace, which fade slightly in preserved specimens; anterolateral margin with six sharp teeth; frontal margin with six sharp teeth with lateral pair reaching slightly past the inner orbital teeth; merus and carpus of swimming leg has a strong spine on posterior margin distally; propodus has row of spines on posterior margin (modified from Lemaitre 1995).

The native distribution of Charybdis hellerii is in the Indo-Pacific region and it is invasive in the Western Atlantic and Mediterranean seas (Ahyong & Wilkens 2011; Dineen et al. 2001; Ferry et al. 2017; Negri et al. 2018). The origin of C. hellerii in the Lesser Antilles is unknown but, it is assumed that this species probably arrived as larvae in ballast water from the Mediterranean or any other localities in the western Atlantic where C. helleri is established ( Ferry et al. 2017). The mode of transportation of C. helleri to Barbados waters is unclear.

Genus Cronius Stimpson, 1860

Figures

FIGURE 17. Superfamily Portunoidea Rafinesque, 1815, dorsal habitus: A, Charybdis hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867), male, cw 69.3 mm (BLSZ 019); B, Cronius ruber (Lamarck, 1818), male, cw 13.1 mm (BLSZ 062); C, Laleonectes vocans (A. Milne-Edwards, 1878), male, cw 20.0 mm (MZUSP 40913); D, Portunus sayi (Gibbes, 1850), female, cw 38.0 mm (BLSZ 205). Scale bars: A, C, D = 20 mm; B = 5 mm.