Fluviatile Potamon

The fluviatile Potamon is a crab of fresh water belonging to the super-family Potamoidea (Ortmann, 1896). It is also named crab of the rivers or crab of fresh water of Europe.

geographical Distribution: One frequently finds it on most of the European circumference of the Mediterranean and in particular on all the Balkan, Greek coasts and islands (Cyprus, Crête, Chios…), but also in Italy to the river Po, but also in Rome.

Under the vestiges of the Forum of Trajan exists a colony of a thousand of crabs " Potamon fluviatile" who thrive with the shelter of predatory in the channels of the Cloaque massima builds by the Étrusques with the VIe front century J. - C.. Discovered in 1997, they would have been introduced into the sector as of the first visits of Greek boats three thousand years ago - that is to say before the foundation of Rome (- 753) -, which confirmed the genetic analyzes made by the researchers of the Université of Rome. However these crabs evolved/moved, it are in general larger and live older than their congeneric same species.

Habitat: This crab likes the calm rivers, in plain and until on average altitude. During the periods of dryness it takes refuge in galleries which it digs near the river.

Manners: This crab is primarily night and leaves only seldom water safe to seek a little food. From a more aggressive behavior, this crab eliminates the crayfish from fresh water (Austropotamobius pallipes) which share the same resources as him.

Food: small shellfish and invertebrates, towards, other crabs, eggs of batrachians and fish, and any kind of refuse,

Size: they are dimorphists (male larger than the females).

Reproduction: the coupling is made May at October. The female receives male a stock of Spermatozoïde S which it will preserve and use until the following season. It will lay thus nearly two hundred fertilized eggs which it protects under its abdominal wall during the forty days from incubation. After the birth, the young crabs remain still ten days under the protection of their mother before dispersing.

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