 "X. poressa" is distributed throughout the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and into the warmer parts of the north eastern Atlantic to the Canary Islands.The larvae of "X. poressa" go through four zoeal and one megalopal stages, which are typical of most of the related species of crabs in the subfamily Xanthinae.The duration of each zoeal stage is 2–4 days and the megalopa stage lasts an average of 10 days, with the first juvenile crab stage being reached after 23 days.