Potamon fluviatile

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 fluviatile
Scientific 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)
Synonyms
  • Potamophilus edule 
  • Potamon edule 
  • Potamon edulis 
  • Thelphusa fluviatilis 
  • Cancer fluviatilis 

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.

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