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Figure 14. Actaea savignii (H. Milne Edwards, 1834) A, C, D, male, cw 18.3 mm, cl 14 mm; B, female,
cw 12.8 mm, cl 9.6 mm; A, B, live specimens; C, D, male specimen as above, freshly preserved; A – C,
dorsal view; D, frontal view. Photographs by S.Ü. Karhan. (Karhan et al., 2013).
Matuta victor
Of the 34 Indo-Pacific alien decapod crustaceans species recorded off the Israeli
coast, 4 are known from single specimens and 5 more are rarely found, but the
remainder have established large populations and some are more prominent in the
Levant than in their native habitats in the Red Sea.
Matutidae is a family of crabs, sometimes called moon crabs, adapted for
swimming or digging. Moon crabs are carnivorous and facultative scavengers, their
diet composed primarily of crustaceans and molluscs, with smaller individuals
feeding on smaller, softer-shelled species, whereas large size classes prey on shelled
sessile or slow-moving species such as anomurans, bivalves and gastropods (Perez
and Bellwood 1988). As a predator of slow-moving benthic invertebrates, Matuta
victor (Fig. 15) may influence the abundance and distribution of its prey items was it
to achieve numerical abundance in Levantine sandy shores. (Galil and Mendelson,
2013).