bathymetry; Bathynectes; distribution; ecology; Liocarcinus; Macropipus

Collections of benthic organisms were obtained during previous Soviet research cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, 1974?1980. Material was collected by bottom grabs or trawls from the depths of 20-500m. Collecting stations were allocated in the Aegean, Adriatic, Tyrrhenian, Balearic, Alboran, and Ionian Seas, and between Sicily and Tunisia. Among decapod crustaceans collected, 8 species of portunid crabs were present, i.e., Liocarcinus. corrugatus (Pennant, 1777), L. depurator (Linnaeus, 1758), L. maculatus (Risso, 1827), L. navigator (Herbst, 1794), L. vernalis (Pennant, 1816), L. zariquieyi Gordon, 1968, Macropipus tuberculatus (Roux, 1830), and Bathynectes longipes (Risso, 1816). For two species, L. maculatus and L. zariquieyi, new distributional records are presented here. An extension of the known depth range is reported here for L. maculatus and L. vernalis.