BioInvasions Records (2013) Volume 2, Issue 2: 145–148 Open Access doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3391/bir.2013.2.2.09 © 2013 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2013 REABIC Rapid Communication First Mediterranean record of Actaea savignii (H. Milne Edwards, 1834) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Xanthidae), an additional Erythraean alien crab Selahattin Ünsal Karhan1*, Mehmet Baki Yokeş2, Paul F. Clark3 and Bella S. Galil4 1 Division of Hydrobiology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, 34134 Vezneciler, Istanbul, Turkey 2 Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Haliç University, 34381 Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey 3 Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, England 4 National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research, POB 8030, Haifa 31080, Israel E-mail:
[email protected] (SÜK),
[email protected] (MBY),
[email protected] (PFC),
[email protected] (BSG) *Corresponding author Received: 19 January 2013 / Accepted: 8 March 2013 / Published online: 16 March 2013 Handling editor: Amy Fowler Abstract To date, the only alien xanthid crab recorded from the Mediterranean is Atergatis roseus (Rüppell, 1830). This species was first collected off Israel in 1961 and is now common along the Levantine coast. Recently a second alien xanthid species, Actaea savignii (H. Milne Edwards, 1834), was found off Israel and Turkey. A single adult specimen was collected in Haifa Bay in 2010, and two specimens were captured off Mersin, Turkey in 2011. Repeatedly reported from the Suez Canal since 1924, the record of the Levantine populations of A. savignii is a testament to the ongoing Erythraean invasion of the Mediterranean Sea.