Nanhaipotamon guangdongense

Description:

The freshwater crab genus Nanhaipotamon is endemic to southern China and Taiwan. The taxonomic state of the genus is not entirely understood, as is the distribution of the known species. Many species only exist in a small range, for example N. zhuhaiense, only known from a few hill streams in the city of Zhuhai. Nanhaipotamon guangdongense was described 1997 by Dai from an unknown site in Guangdong province. 2012, Huang et al. found specimens of N. guangdongense living sympatrically with N. zhuhaiense, the first record of the species since 1997.At some sites in Zhuhai, I found N. guangdongense living in high densities (5 crabs per meter river bank) in self digged burrows next to small hill streams, often with high banks. This specimen I digged out and got pinched pretty badly. Although there is known almost nothing about the distribution of Nanhaipotamon species, they are sold as pets on fish markets in Guangzhou and possibly elsewhere in Guangdong. Internet research showed that there exists quite a crab owner community in southern China, with many enthusiasts collecting specimens themselves. Since they can be sold for up to 30 US Dollars a piece, collectors will not communicate the sites where they found crabs so that nobody can harvest there except them. The impact on wild populations of these crabs is basically unkown and needs to be evaluated immediatley, since crabs as pets are becoming more popular every day. Zhuhai, Guangdong.