Callinectes Rathbun, 1896

= Callinectes Rathbun, 1896 View in CoL (type species Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 , subsequent designation by Rathbun, 1896, under plenary powers; gender masculine) [ ICZN, 1964. Opinion 712]

Included species: Sixteen.

Callinectes affinis Fausto-Filho, 1980

Callinectes amnicola Rochebrune, 1883

= Neptunus amnicola Rochebrune, 1883

= Neptunus edwardsi Rochebrune, 1883

= Neptunus marginatus var. truncata Aurivillius, 1898

= Callinectes latimanus Rathbun, 1897

Callinectes arcuatus Ordway, 1863

= Callinectes pleuriticus Ordway, 1863

= Callinectes dubia Kingsley, 1879

= Callinectes nitidus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879 Callinectes bellicosus Stimpson, 1859

= Callinectes ochoterenai Contreras, 1930 Callinectes bocourti A. Milne-Edwards, 1879

= Callinectes cayennensis A. Milne-Edwards, 1879

= Callinectes maracaiboensis Taissoun, 1972 Callinectes danae Smith, 1869

Callinectes exasperatus (Gerstaecker, 1856)

= Lupea exasperata Gerstaecker, 1856

=? Lupa trispinosa Leach, 1816

= Callinectes tumidus Ordway, 1863

Callinectes gladiator Benedict, 1893

= Lupa smythiana White, 1847 (nomen nudum) Callinectes larvatus Ordway, 1863

Callinectes marginatus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1861) View in CoL

= Neptunus marginatus A. Milne-Edwards, 1861 View in CoL

= Callinectes africanus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879 View in CoL Callinectes ornatus Ordway, 1863 View in CoL

= Callinectes humphreyi H. G. Jones, 1968 ? Callinectes pallidus (Rochebrune, 1883)

= Neptunus pallidus Rochebrune, 1883

Callinectes rathbunae Contreras, 1930

Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 [ ICZN, 1964.

Opinion 712]

= Portunus diacantha Latreille, 1825 [name suppressed; ICZN, 1964. Opinion 712]

= Callinectes sapidus acutidens Rathbun, 1896 Callinectes similis Williams, 1966

Callinectes toxotes Ordway, 1863

= Callinectes robustus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879

Diagnosis (modified from Rathbun, 1930): Similar to Portunus , distinguished by narrow, reversed ‘T’-shaped male pleon, and merus of third maxillipeds strongly produced outwards at anteroexternal angle. Body usually of large size; front formed by two or four teeth; dorsum of carapace with four dorsal carinae formed of single granules; two transverse, usually curved and subparallel lines on gastric region and one sinuous oblique line on branchial region leading inward from lateral tooth; nine strong anterolateral teeth, with posteriormost tooth at lateral angle; chelipeds stout; palm with five external carinae, with dorsodistal spine and proximal spine at articulation with carpus; carpus without inner spine, outer spine at widest part of article; merus with three (exceptionally four) stout spines on inner margin and small spine at posterodistal end; swimming legs without spines. Pleon of immature female triangular from fourth segment to telson.

Remarks: As Spiridonov et al. (2014) noted, Callinectes is closely related to Portunus (in its herein redefined scope) and Atlantic Arenaeus , as is evident from their general appearance being relatively large swimming forms, sharing leaf-like walking dactyli, the lack of conspicuous granular patches on their carapace and slender gonopods. This view is confirmed by other recent cladistic ( Karasawa et al., 2008) and molecular (Mantellato et al., 2009, 2018; Evans, 2018) studies of portunids. In the present study, a well-supported clade is formed by two species of Portunus and a single Callinectes ( Arenaeus was not included in the present analysis). The infrageneric molecular diversity of American Callinectes analysed by Robles et al. (2007) revealed two major clades among 12 of 16 currently valid species included in that analysis: the ‘ bocourti ’ clade including Callinectes affinis , Callinectes bocourti , Callinectes rathbunae , Callinectes sapidus and Callinectes toxotes ; and the ‘ danae ’ clade composed of Callinectes arcuatus , Callinectes bellicosus , Callinectes danae , Callinectes exasperatus , Callinectes larvatus , Callinectes ornatus and Callinectes similis . Morphological distinctions between these lineages are mainly in the relative length of the first gonopods (reaching the fourth thoracic sternite in the ‘ bocourti ’ group; see Williams, 1974).

Size: Generally, in adult males and females the CW is between 100 and 150 mm ( Rathbun, 1930); the largest males in low-salinity waters might reach even> 230 mm ( Williams, 1965).

Ecological notes: Species of Callinectes inhabit a variety of substrate types in estuaries and shallow oceanic waters, from the upper sublittoral zone to a depth of 40 m ( Williams, 1965).

Geographical range: The native range of the genus is along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of America ( Rathbun, 1930) and western Africa ( Monod, 1956); recently introduced to European waters, including the Baltic, Mediterranean and Black seas ( Nehring, 2011).