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Figure 9. Male Portunus pelagicus.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Portunus_pelagicus_male.jpg)

Figure 10. Distribution of Portunus pelagicus in Mediterranean Sea (CIESM, 2014).

Callinectes sapidus
The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (Decapoda, Brachyura,
Portunidae) (Fig. 11) originates from western Atlantic and has extended its
distribution in most European coastal waters (Fig. 12) and in Japan; transporting in
ballast water is considered the most probable vector (Nehring, 2011). In the
Mediterranean, C. sapidus was first recorded in the Northern Adriatic Sea (Giordani
Soika, 1951); to date, it results almost ubiquitous (Eleftheriou et al., 2011; Galil,
2011) and is considered an invasive species (Streftaris and Zenetos, 2006; Duruer et
al., 2008). Carrozzo et al. (2014) suggested that the established population of
Callinectes sapidus in the Torre Colimena basin, located along the Ionian coasts of
the Salento peninsula, may occupy a predatory position in the food chain, exerting a
potentially high ecological impact on the coastal habitat.
The tolerance to extreme variations in water conditions (the species is
euryhaline and eurythermal, inhabiting estuaries and lagoons from Argentina to