Cuapetes elegans (Paul'son, 1875)

Naderloo, Reza & Türkay, Michael, 2012, Decapod crustaceans of the littoral and shallow sublittoral Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf: Faunistics, Biodiversity and Zoogeography 3374, Zootaxa 3374 (1), pp. 1-67 : 15

Cuapetes elegans ( Paul’son, 1875)

Persian Gulf. Iran [ Sheibani (2008) as Kemponia elegans ( Paul’son, 1875)].

Iran. Hormozgan Province: Qeshm I. (7 km E. of Shib-Deraz).

General distribution. Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, India, Bay of Bengal, Sri Lanka, Andaman Is., Nicobar Is., Malay Archipelago, Hong Kong, Philippines, Ryukyu Is., Japan, Papua New Guinea, Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland), Solomon Is., Caroline Is., Marshall Islands, Society Is., Tuamotus, Hawaiian Is.

Habitat. Rocky/cobble and reef intertidal. Bruce (2004) mentioned that the species occurs in coral reef habitat ranging from shallow subtidal to 53 m.

Remarks. Sheibani (2008) recorded this species from one station in the Persian Gulf and several stations along the Iranian coast of the Gulf of Oman. She has provided a detailed description and illustration for the Persian Gulf specimens and discussed on the varieties among the specimens (see Sheibani 2008).