First record of Thalamita oculea Alcock, 1899 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae) in the Mediterranean Sea

A single adult specimen of Thalamita oculea, a portunid crab known from the Indian Ocean, was recently collected off the Israeli coast, in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea. Morphological characters, as well as molecular analyses based on the mitochondrial barcoding gene 16S ribosomal RNA, support the identification. The species is described, illustrated, and differentiated from its Mediterranean congeners. As the Israeli shelf serves as an important way station and breeding ground for invasive Erythraean biota, T. oculea may potentially spread along the Levant coastline.