First Record of the Alien Rocky Crab Actea savignii (Milne Edwards, 1834) from Iraqi Marine Waters

Abstract

This study reports the first occurrence of the rocky crab Actea savignii (Milne Edwards, 1834) in Iraqi marine waters, representing a new addition to the decapod fauna of the northwestern Arabian Gulf. Two specimens of the Rocky crab Actaea savignii were collected from Iraqi coastal waters between 2013 and 2015 during a scuba diving project of the Marine Science Center, University of Basrah. This species is a new record for our region, and it is globally known as an alien out of its habitat. In the field, the crab specimens were photographed before being preserved in plastic containers filled with 95% ethanol and labeled with the collected date and region, then transferred to the laboratory for further examination. We photographed the crab species and identified them by using dissecting and compound microscopes, depending on morphological characters, as in Karhan et al. (2013), Ahyong (2024), and DecaNet eds. (2026). The study concluded that some species of Xanthidae crab were recorded in the Iraqi marine waters, which may refer to their ability to adapt to a new region in the Arabian coastal of the Gulf as alien species, especially Actea savignii. The study highlights the need for continuous biodiversity assessments and monitoring programs in Iraqi marine environments to detect and manage non-native species. The documentation of A. savignii contributes to the growing inventory of marine biodiversity in the region and provides a baseline for future ecological and biogeographical investigations.