Potamon fluviatile

Potamon fluviatile
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Potamidae
Genus: Potamon
Species:
P. fluviatile
Binomial name
Potamon fluviatile
(Herbst, 1785)
Found in western and southern Italy, Malta, Albania, parts of former Yugoslavia and much of Greece
Synonyms
  • Potamophilus edule [2]
  • Potamon edule [3]
  • Potamon edulis [4]
  • Thelphusa fluviatilis [4]
  • Cancer fluviatilis [5]

Potamon fluviatile is a freshwater crab found in or near wooded streams, rivers and lakes in Southern Europe. It is an omnivore with broad ecological tolerances, and adults typically reach 50 mm (2 in) in size during their 10–12 year lifespan. They inhabit burrows and are aggressive, apparently outcompeting native crayfish.

P. fluviatile has been harvested for food since classical antiquity, and is now threatened by overexploitation. Many of the island populations are particularly vulnerable, and the Maltese subspecies has become a conservation icon. A population in Rome may have been brought there before the founding of the Roman Empire.

  1. ^ Cumberlidge, N. (2008). "Potamon fluviatile". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T134293A3933275. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T134293A3933275.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ng was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jesse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Jacqueline Debrincat & Patrick J. Schembri (2007). "Burrow density of the endangered Maltese freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile lanfrancoi at Lunzjata and Xlendi valleys, Gozo" (PDF). Xjenza. 11 (120301): 1–9.
  5. ^ L. B. Holthuis (1962). "Forty-seven genera of Decapoda (Crustacea); proposed addition to the official list. Z.N.(S.) 1499" (PDF). Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 19: 232–252.