First record of Albunea carabus (Decapoda, Anomura, Hippidea) from the Algarve coast, South Portugal

Abstract

During an annual bivalve dredge survey undertaken in April 2005 along the Portuguese coast, one specimen of the sand crab Albunea carabus was collected. This is the first record of this species on the Portuguese continental shelf. The individual found was a male with 11.31 mm carapace length and was collected off Faro at 3 m depth in a sandy area considerably hydrodynamic during winter. This occurrence is one of the few records outside the Mediterranean Sea. A short review of previous findings on this species is presented.