Charybdis hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867)

Chelonibia patula, the turtle barnacle, was found on Charybdis hellerii from Pakistan (Javed & Mustaquim 1994). Australian specimens of C. hellerii had a 1.3% Sacculina infection (Stephenson et al 1957).

All larval, postlarval as well as juvenile through adult stages of Charybdis hellerii have been successfully reared in the laboratory for the first time, and are currently being described (Dineen et al. - in prep).

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.


No available public DNA sequences.

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Charybdis hellerii is a non-indigenous (exotic) swimming crab in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida. History of Spread: The present day distribution of Charybdis hellerii, a portunid crab of Indo -Pacific origin, has extended to the eastern Mediterranean and western Atlantic. The distribution of Charybdis hellerii in the eastern Mediterranean to Hawaii as well as eastern Australia and Queensland was extended to western Australia and the northern Territory (Stephenson et al 1957). In 1972, C. hellerii was first recorded from the west coast of India, although it was previously documented only from the east coast of India (Kathirvel and Gopalakrishnan 1974). The probable migration of C. hellerii through the Suez Canal could account for its occurrence in the eastern Mediterranean including Israel, Egypt and Lebanon (Por 1978 and Shiber 1981, as cited in Campos and Turkay 1989). In 1987, Charybdis hellerii was recorded from several sites in the western Atlantic: Cuba (Gomez & Martinez-Iglesias 1990); Venezuela (Hernandez & Bolanos 1995); and Colombia (Campos and Turkay 1989). Its introduction to the Caribbean coast of Columbia was thought to have occurred from either ballast water or from specimens clinging to the "ship's trunk". It was first sited at Bahia Portete, Columbia in 1987 and one year later C. hellerii was found ~ 250 km west in Bahia Chengue, Columbia, probably as a result of adult migration or larval transport in the Caribbean current (Campos and Turkay 1989). In 1995, Charybdis hellerii was recorded from Rio de Janeiro, (southeastern coast) Brazil, from 0.5 - 3.0 m depth. These authors suggest that transportation of larval stages by the Brazilian current from a previous Caribbean invasion were the most likely source of C. hellerii in Brazil, as opposed to direct transfer of ballast in Brazilian waters (Tavares & De Mendonca 1996).The first record of C. hellerii from the North American Atlantic coast, extending its range from the Caribbean, was in 1995 when the crab was discovered in the Indian River Lagoon system in Florida. It was felt that ballast water is the most probable mechanism of transport to the Caribbean and eastern Florida. The discovery of an ovigerous female and several juveniles of C. hellerii in the Indian River Lagoon probably indicates an established population (Lemaitre 1995). Impact on Natives: Undetermined.Cost in the IRL: A non-native portunid crab (swimming crab), Charybdis hellerii could potentially compete with native brachyuran crabs, particularly with other portunids such as Callinectes spp. for food and habitat in the Indian River Lagoon. If this is the case, the fishery for Callinectes sapidus could be negatively impacted.