The Gecarcinucidae are a family of true freshwater crabs. They are found throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia and New Guinea, with a single genus found in Australia.
Hexapus is a genus of crabs in the family Hexapodidae. It contains only three extant species found in the Indo-West Pacific. They inhabit the intertidal and subtidal areas of shorelines.
Kani is a tribe living in the Western Ghats area of Kerala, India.
Hexapodidae is a family of crabs, the only family in the superfamily Hexapodoidea. It has traditionally been treated as a subfamily of the family Goneplacidae, and was originally described as a subfamily of Pinnotheridae. Its members can be distinguished from all other true crabs by the reduction of the thorax, such that only seven sternites are exposed, and only four pairs of pereiopods are present. Not counting the enlarged pair of claws, this leaves only six walking legs, from which the type genus Hexapus, and therefore the whole family, takes its name. Some anomuran "crabs", such as porcelain crabs and king crabs also have only four visible pairs of legs. With the exception of Stevea williamsi, from Mexico, all the extant members are found either in the Indo-Pacific oceans, or around the coast of Africa.
Potamon is a genus of freshwater or semiterrestrial crabs mainly found from Southern Europe through the Middle East, and as far east as north-western India. The only exception is the North African P. algeriense, which also is the only potamid of mainland Africa. Twenty species are currently recognised. These crabs are omnivores that have a broad ecological tolerance. The adult Potaman reach up to 50 mm in size during their 10-12 year life span.
Deckenia is a genus of freshwater crabs from East Africa, in the family Potamonautidae, or sometimes in a family of its own, Deckeniidae. The genus was named by Hilgendorf after Karl Klaus von der Decken who collected the first examples during his expeditions to Africa. Both species live in swamps from Eyl in Somalia to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, both in coastal areas and further inland. A third species, Deckenia alluaudi, lives in the Seychelles, and has been transferred to a separate genus, Seychellum.
Villalobosius is a genus of crabs in the family Pseudothelphusidae, containing a single species, Villalobosius lopezformenti. It lives in the northern part of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and is adapted to a troglobitic lifestyle.
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.
A number of lineages of crabs have evolved to live predominantly on land. Examples of terrestrial crabs are found in the families Gecarcinidae and Gecarcinucidae, as well as in selected genera from other families, such as Sesarma, although the term "land crab" is often used to mean solely the family Gecarcinidae.
Leptarma biju, commonly known as a tree-spider crab, is a species of crab endemic to the mangroves in Kerala, India. It is s noted for its unique root climbing behavior for which it gets its namesake.
Parveen F. Absar is a wildlife biologist from India. In 2017, she was credited with the discovery of a species of freshwater crab called Teretamon absarum, of the genus Teretamon and species speleaum.
Ghatiana is a genus of freshwater crabs, found among the Western Ghats in India.
Gubernatoriana triangulus is a species of freshwater crab in the family Gecarcinucidae. The species is endemic to the Western Ghats in India.
Ghatiana pulchra is a species of freshwater crab from the northern Western Ghats in India that was first identified in 2018.
Ghatiana dvivarna is a species of freshwater crab from the Central Western Ghats in India that was first identified in 2022.
Ghatiana atropurpurea is a species of arboreal crab from India that was first identified in 2016. Unlike other species of its genus, Ghatiana, it is not endemic to the Western Ghats.
Ghatiana splendida is a species of crab from India, first identified in 2016 in the Western Ghats. Tejas Thackeray, among the discovers of the species, has said that "locals" to where it was first described were aware of the species and would refer to it as the "purple tree crab" or the "pink forest crab". Thackeray first encountered the crab while searching for the olive forest snake.
Barytelphusa cunicularis is a common species of freshwater crab found in India. It is distributed throughout the country from Himachal Pradesh in north to Kerala in south except north-east india.
Gordonopsis is a genus of deep-sea porter crabs in the family Homolidae. The Homolidae are also known as carrier crabs or porter crabs for their fifth pereiopods, which they use to hold objects in place over the rear half of the carapace in a possible defence mechanism against predators. Species of Gordonopsis are found in deep waters of the Indo-West Pacific region. The genus was erected in 1995 by Danièle Guinot and Bertrand Richer de Forges.
