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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: an Indo-Pacific crab
Synonyms and Other Names: Goniosoma hellerii A. Milne-Edwards, 1867; Charybdis (Goniosoma) merguiensis Steinitz, 1929; Monod, 1930, 1931, 1932; Chopra, 1935
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: The spine on the posterior margin of the carpus of the fifth leg separates this crab from other species of Charybdis (Stephenson et al. 1957). Lemaitre (1995) described this species as follows: dorsal surface of the carapace is naked; anterolateral margin with 6 sharp, black-tipped teeth (including outer orbital). Frontal region with 6 prominent teeth: 2 inner orbitals plus 4 blunt submedial teeth, latter reaching slightly in advance of orbitals. Chela stout; palm with 5 strong black-tipped spines on distal posterior margin; propodus with row of spines on posterior margin. Sixth abdominal segment of male about as broad as long, posterodistal margins rounded; telson bluntly triangular, basal width less than distal width of six abdominal segment. Overall color dark green except for light purple area on upper, inner surface of palm and dark purple on dorsal surfaces of distal 4 segments of walking and swimming legs. Carapace with pale green or whitish areas on frontal, hepatic and epibranchial regions. Fingers of chelipeds dark purple.
Size: Female specimens from U.S. waters range from 47 to 62 mm carapace width; male specimens from 74 to 83 mm carapace width.
Native Range:
Japan, Philippines, New Caledonia, Australia, Hawaii, and throughout the Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea (Stephenson 1972, Kathirvel and Gopalakrishnan 1974, Vannini 1976, Javed and Mustaquim 1994).
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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
Translate this page with
Common Name: an Indo-Pacific crab
Synonyms and Other Names: Goniosoma hellerii A. Milne-Edwards, 1867; Charybdis (Goniosoma) merguiensis Steinitz, 1929; Monod, 1930, 1931, 1932; Chopra, 1935
Taxonomy: available through
Identification: The spine on the posterior margin of the carpus of the fifth leg separates this crab from other species of Charybdis (Stephenson et al. 1957). Lemaitre (1995) described this species as follows: dorsal surface of the carapace is naked; anterolateral margin with 6 sharp, black-tipped teeth (including outer orbital). Frontal region with 6 prominent teeth: 2 inner orbitals plus 4 blunt submedial teeth, latter reaching slightly in advance of orbitals. Chela stout; palm with 5 strong black-tipped spines on distal posterior margin; propodus with row of spines on posterior margin. Sixth abdominal segment of male about as broad as long, posterodistal margins rounded; telson bluntly triangular, basal width less than distal width of six abdominal segment. Overall color dark green except for light purple area on upper, inner surface of palm and dark purple on dorsal surfaces of distal 4 segments of walking and swimming legs. Carapace with pale green or whitish areas on frontal, hepatic and epibranchial regions. Fingers of chelipeds dark purple.
Size: Female specimens from U.S. waters range from 47 to 62 mm carapace width; male specimens from 74 to 83 mm carapace width.
Native Range:
Japan, Philippines, New Caledonia, Australia, Hawaii, and throughout the Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea (Stephenson 1972, Kathirvel and Gopalakrishnan 1974, Vannini 1976, Javed and Mustaquim 1994).
There are records of occurrence from South Carolina waters dating from 1986 that include the capture of gravid females. The specimen collected on 13 October 1986 appears to be the first record from U.S. waters (David Knott, unpublished field data; Gleeson, unpublished). This species was reported from the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, at Fort Pierce Inlet in St. Lucie County on 20 April 1995 and there have been subsequent records from the east coast of Florida from Nassau, Flagler, and St. John's counties. McMillen-Jackson (unpublished field data) recorded the first occurrence of this species in the Gulf of Mexico. She collected an ovigerous female in a stone crab trap south of the mouth of Tampa Bay, Florida, near Anna Maria Island. Specimens were collected by Ehlinger (Florida Fish and Wildlife Commision) in Nassau County in 2004. Collected from Core Sound waters off Portsmouth Island approximately 50 km SW of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (Knott).
This species has been introduced into the eastern Mediterranean (Lemaitre 1995), Colombia (Campos and Turkay 1989), Cuba (Gomez and Martinez-Iglesias 1990), and Venezuela (Hernandez and Bolaos 1995).
Means of Introduction:
Both ballast water (Lemaitre 1995) and drift of juveniles from Cuba (Gomez and Martinez-Iglesias 1990) have been suggested as a means of introduction.
Status:
Presence of gravid/ovigerous females in Florida and South Carolina suggest that a reproducing population may establish itself. Lemaitre (1995) noted the potential of this species to successfully colonize marine ecosystems of South Florida and the Gulf of Mexico and observed that the presence of adults and juveniles in the Indian River leaves little doubt that there is a reproducing population in that area of Florida.
Impact of Introduction: Unknown.
Remarks:
The larvae of C. hellerii have not been described (Lemaitre 1995). Other species of Charybdis for which the complete larval development is known, have five to six zoeal stages and a megalopal stage (Greenwood and Fielder 1980, Fielder et al. 1984). Fecundity of C. hellerii ranges from 22,517 to 292,050 eggs per female (Siddiqui and Ahmed 1992). Stephenson et al. (1957) noted that this species prefers soft bottom habitat, but can also be found on rocky bottom and among live coral. Lemaitre (1995) noted that C. hellerii is the third introduced decapod crustacean to become established along the North American Atlantic coast. Specimens collected in Florida by Lemaitre (1995) were deposited in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution under catalogue number USNM 275907.
References
Campos, N. H. and M. Turkay. 1989. On a record of Charybdis helleri from the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Senck. Mar. 20: 119-123.
Fielder, D. R., J. G. Greenwood and G. Campbell. 1984. The megalopa of Charybdis feriata (Linnaeus) with additions to the zoeal larvae descriptions (Decapoda, Portunidae). Crustaceana 46: 160-165.
Gomez, O. and J. C. Martinez-Iglesias. 1990. Reciente hallazgo de la especie indopacifica Charybdis helleri (A. Milne Edwards, 1867) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae) en aguas cubanas. Caribb. J. Sci. 26: 70-72.
Greenwood, J. G. and D. R. Fielder. 1980. The zoeal stages and megalopa of Charybdis callianassa (Herbst) (Decapoda: Portunidae), reared in the laboratory. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 91: 61-76.
Hernandez, G. and J. Bolaos. 1995. Additions to the anomuran and brachyuran fauna of northeastern Venezuela. The Crustacean Society Summer Meeting, May 25-27, 1995 [abstract].
Javed, M. and J. Mustaquim. 1994. New record of an acorn barnacle, Chelonibia patula (Cirripedia, Thoracica) from Pakistan. Crustaceana 66: 124-126.
Kathirvel, M. and K. N.Gopalakrishnan. 1974. On the occurrence of Charybdis (Charybdis) hellerii (A. Milne Edwards) (Decapoda: Portunidae) along the west coast of India. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India 16: 286-287.
Lemaitre, R. 1995. Charybdis hellerii (Milne Edwards, 1867), a nonindigenous portunid crab (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) discovered in the Indian River lagoon system in Florida. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 108: 643-648.
Siddiqui, G. and M. Ahmed. 1992. Fecundities of some marine brachyuran crabs from Karachi (Pakistan). Pakistan Journal of Zoology 24:43-45.
Stephenson, W. 1972. An annotated check list and key to the Indo-West-Pacific swimming crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae). Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin 10: 1-64.
Stephenson, W., J. J. Hudson and B. Campbell. 1957. The Australian portunids (Crustacea; Portunidae). II. The genus Charybdis. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 8: 491-507.
Vannini, M. 1976. Researches on the coast of Somalia. The shore and the dune of Sar Uanle. 8. Notes on Atelecyclidae and Portunidae (Decapoda Brachyura). Monitore Zoologico Italiano, Italian Journal of Zoology, suppl. 8: 119-127.
Other Resources: Charbybdis hellerii (Portunid crab) (Gulf of Mexico Program)
Author: Harriet Perry
Revision Date: 4/26/2006 Citation for this information:
Harriet Perry. 2009. Charybdis hellerii. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.asp?SpeciesID=191> Revision Date: 4/26/2006
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