It closely resembles Liocarcinus pusillus and was for a long time confused with that species.

[1] Parisi realised that the species then known as "Portunus pusillus" comprised two separate taxa.

[1] This error was recognised by the Dutch carcinologist Lipke Holthuis in 1958 who continued using Parisi's names while awaiting Gordon's revision.

A single specimen, in the collections of Alfred Merle Norman, purports to be from the east coast of Great Britain.

[2] The crab inhabits depths of 10–60 metres (33–197 ft) on coarse sandy or gravelly substrates.