New records of Decapod Crustacea from the Mediterranean coast of Israel and the eastern Mediterranean

Since the publication by Holthuis & Gottlieb (1958) of a list of the Decapod Crustacea known at that time to inhabit the Mediterranean waters of Israel, several additional species, 18 in number, have been found in the area, while just prior to the issue of the paper by Holthuis & Gottlieb a publication by Forest & Guinot (1958) appeared in which one species not mentioned by the former authors was listed, namely Alpheus crassimanus Heller. The total number of Decapoda now known from the Mediterranean coast of Israel thus amounts to 137 (61 Brachyura, 21 Anomura anl 55 Macrura). In the present paper the 18 new records are enumerated, while moreover some interesting finds of Decapoda in the eastern Mediterranean within and outside Israel waters are discussed. The larger part of the new Israel species (12 of the 18) were collected in the littoral area, to the study of which during the last few years particular attention has been paid by the Zoology Department of Tel-Aviv University. Of these 12 species 8 are typically Mediterranean, 4 being of Indo-West Pacific origin; the latter must have reached the Israel coast by way of the Suez Canal. The continued research by Dr. E. Gilat (= E. Gottlieb), Sea Fisheries Research Station at Haifa, of the deeper parts of the coastal waters off Israel (at depths roughly between 20 and 100 m), yielded relatively few new species (4), which shows that this area has become relatively well known by the previous explorations by Dr. Gilat. Among these four new finds there are not less than three immigrants from the Red Sea, at least one of which (Charybdis longicollis) must have arrived rather recently in Israel waters, where it now is established so well that it has become a true pest. Finally, two species were