Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the world's oceans, in freshwater, and on land, are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and have a single pair of pincers. They first appeared during the Jurassic Period.
Rhynchobdellida, the jawless leeches or freshwater leeches, are an order of aquatic leeches. Despite the common name "freshwater leeches", species are found in both sea and fresh water. They are defined by the presence of a protrusible proboscis instead of jaws, and having colourless blood. They move by "inchworming" and are found worldwide. The order contains 110 species, divided into 41 genera and three families. Members of the order range widely in length, usually between 7 and 40 mm. They are hermaphrodite. The order is not monophyletic.
Potamon potamios, the Levantine freshwater crab, is a semi-terrestrial crab occurring around the eastern Mediterranean, including many Mediterranean islands, extending as far south and west as the Sinai Peninsula.
The nsess (Stomatepia mariae) is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo in western Cameroon. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. It is critically endangered because of pollution and sedimentation due to human activities. It is potentially also threatened by large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the lake's bottom (compare Lake Nyos), although studies indicate that Barombo Mbo lacks excess amounts of this gas.
The pindu is a critically endangered species of cichlid endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo in western Cameroon.
The Maltese freshwater crab is a subspecies of freshwater crab, endemic to certain areas within the Maltese Islands. It is very rare and its numbers have been decreasing in recent years.
Potamidae is a family of freshwater crabs. It includes more than 650 species and nearly 100 genera, which are placed into two subfamilies: Potaminae and Potamiscinae.
Hainanpotamon vietnamicum is a species of crab. Originally described as a species of Geothelphusa, it is now treated as part of the genus Hainanpotamon, although it has also been suggested as a member of Tiwaripotamon. It is only known from a single locality in Cúc Phương National Park, Ninh Bình Province, Vietnam.
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.
Potamon algeriense is a freshwater crab found in North Africa.
Potamon ibericum is a Eurasian species of freshwater crab. It is an omnivore that feeds on land, but returns regularly to the water, and can survive short periods of drought in burrows and under stones. Its natural range stretches from north-eastern Greece, around both sides of the Black Sea and to beyond the Caspian Sea; populations have also been introduced to southern France. It is included as a near threatened species on the IUCN Red List, and is included in the Red Data Book for Ukraine.
Around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, divided among eight families. They show direct development and maternal care of a small number of offspring, in contrast to marine crabs, which release thousands of planktonic larvae. This limits the dispersal abilities of freshwater crabs, so they tend to be endemic to small areas. As a result, a large proportion are threatened with extinction.
Seychellum alluaudi is a species of freshwater crab endemic to the Seychelles, and the only true freshwater crab in that country. It lives in rainforest streams on the archipelago's granitic high islands. Although it may be abundant, little is known about its biology. If its habitat were to decline in quality, S. alluaudi might become endangered, but it is currently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Hainanpotamon is a genus of freshwater crabs, containing the following species:
Francesca Gherardi was an Italian zoologist, ethologist, and ecologist. Most of her work was performed at the Department of Biology of the University of Florence, Italy, where she was a researcher and an associate professor.
Branchiobdellida is an order of freshwater leech-like clitellates that are obligate ectosymbionts or ectoparasites, mostly of astacoidean crayfish. They are found in the Northern Hemisphere and have a holarctic distribution in East Asia, the Euro-Mediterranean region and North and Central America, with the greatest species diversity being in North and Central America.
Crustaceans belong to the subphylum Crustacea,, and form a large, diverse group of arthropods including decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can be treated as a subphylum under the clade Mandibulata. It is now well accepted that the hexapods emerged deep in the Crustacean group, with the completed group referred to as Pancrustacea. Some crustaceans are more closely related to insects and the other hexapods than they are to certain other crustaceans.
Theodoxus jordani is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites.
Potamon is a genus of freshwater or semiterrestrial crabs. Potamon may also refer to:
Haemadipsa sylvestris is a species of blood-feeding leech recorded from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia. A species of freshwater crab, Himalayapotamon atkinsonianum, has been recorded as a host. The species is known to grow as large as 40 mm in length and 7 mm wide. It is a lowland species, and closely associated with water; it lives near riverbanks and ponds, and may sometimes be flooded out in some regions.
