Aggressive, omnivorous, invasive: the Erythraean moon crab Matuta victor (Fabricius, 1781) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Matutidae) in the eastern Mediterranean sea

ABSTRACTSince its first sighting in 2012 in Haifa Bay, Israel, the population of the Indo-Pacific moon crab, Matuta victor, has increased greatly along the Israeli littoral and spread to Lebanon and the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. To examine possible interactions with the Levantine nearshore psammophilic community, the crab’s feeding behaviour was observed in situ and the foregut contents of 69 specimens collected in December 2015 and June 2016 were analysed. Its omnivorous diet was confirmed and previously unknown intraspecific competitive feeding behaviour is reported. The agonistic behaviour may denote behavioural flexibility that enables the crabs to colonize and persist in a depauperate novel habitat. Site-specific disturbance regimen related to human activities seems to have had a critical role in driving the rapid population increase.