Potamonautes platynotus
Encyclopedia
Potamonautes platynotus is a species of freshwater crab
which is endemic to Lake Tanganyika
, where it is the only freshwater crab outside the genus Platythelphusa
. Although primarily aquatic
, P. platynotus is sometimes seen out of water, and can survive for many hours without water.
Freshwater crab
There are around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs, 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...
which is endemic to Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Siberia; it is also the world's longest freshwater lake...
, where it is the only freshwater crab outside the genus Platythelphusa
Platythelphusa
Platythelphusa is a genus of freshwater crabs endemic to Lake Tanganyika. It has been placed in a number of families, including a monotypic family, Platythelphusidae, as well as Potamidae and its current position in the Potamonautidae, and has also been treated as a subgenus of Potamonautes...
. Although primarily aquatic
Aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...
, P. platynotus is sometimes seen out of water, and can survive for many hours without water.