[3] Charybdis feriata is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from Japan, China and Australia to Southern Africa and the Persian Gulf.

According to tradition the Spanish Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier saw this crab in Indonesia.

Depuis, en cette région, les crabes ont un crucifix imprimé sur leur carapace".

However this crab has now also successively invaded the Western Atlantic (Florida to Brazil)[8] and the Mediterranean Sea.

[12] Charybdis natator is characterised by a brownish upper surface with some white spots among the wafts or bright red granules.

[16] Unlike most portunid crabs, most species belonging to this group inhabit the deep sea.