''Nanhaipotamon'' is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

(; literally: 'South Sea'), for it occurs mostly in coastal areas.

Description

These crabs are relatively large, with a carapace breadth of up to . Depending on the species, the carapace may be vividly coloured, especially in males of '' N. hongkongense'' (orange to red),'''' '' N. aculatum'' (dark blue) and '' N. zhuhaiense'' (light blue). Chelipeds are usually unequal, more so in larger males, where one cheliped is relatively much larger than the other. This may be of use in territorial fights, as the crabs are very aggressive towards conspecifics.''''

Distribution and habitat

Crabs of the genus ''Nanhaipotamon'' inhabit the banks of small to medium-sized hill streams, paddy fields and swamps. Although not particularly a lowland species, they usually do not occur above approximately 500 meters above sea level. Most species are nocturnal, leaving their burrows at night to forage. Species belonging to this genus have been recorded from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

and Dongyin Island.

Conservation

Although crabs of the genus ''Nanhaipotamon'' are subject to the pet trade,'''' not much is known about the population status of most species, and many are only known from their respective type locality. Of the 18 currently accepted species, only three have meaningful IUCN assessments, the rest all being data deficient. Nearly a third of known species were described in the last ten years, and yet there is evidence that a lot more may be discovered in the near future. The gambling hub of

is one of the most densely populated places in the world, and a new species has been described there as recently as 2018.'''' The rapid urbanization of coastal regions, habitat destruction, impacts on water quality and collection for consumption and the pet trade, pose serious threats to most known species.

Health

'' Nanhaipotamon fujianense'' is known to be an intermediate host for the

lung fluke ''Paragonimus'' is a genus of flukes (trematodes) and is the only genus in the monotypic family Paragonimidae. Some tens of species have been described, but they are difficult to distinguish, so it is not clear how many of the named species may b ...

species '' Paragonimus skrjabini.''

Species

* '' Nanhaipotamon aculatum'' Dai, 1997 * ''

Nanhaipotamon dongyinense ''Nanhaipotamon'' is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and Taiwan. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the South China Sea (; literally: 'South Sea'), for it oc ...

'' Shih, Chen & Wang, 2005 * ''

Nanhaipotamon formosanum ''Nanhaipotamon'' is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and Taiwan. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the South China Sea (; literally: 'South Sea'), for it oc ...

'' (Parisi, 1916)'''' * '' Nanhaipotamon fujianense'' Lin, Cheng & Chen, 2013 * ''

Nanhaipotamon guangdongense ''Nanhaipotamon'' is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and Taiwan. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the South China Sea (; literally: 'South Sea'), for it oc ...

'' Dai, 1997'''' * ''

Nanhaipotamon hepingense ''Nanhaipotamon'' is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and Taiwan. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the South China Sea (; literally: 'South Sea'), for it oc ...

'' Dai, 1997'''' * '' Nanhaipotamon hongkongense'' (Shen, 1940)'''' * ''

Nanhaipotamon huaanense ''Nanhaipotamon'' is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and Taiwan. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the South China Sea (; literally: 'South Sea'), for it oc ...

'' Dai, 1997'''' * '' Nanhaipotamon macau'' Huang, Wong & Ahyong, 2018 * ''

Nanhaipotamon nanriense ''Nanhaipotamon'' is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and Taiwan. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the South China Sea (; literally: 'South Sea'), for it oc ...

'' Dai, 1997'''' * '' Nanhaipotamon pinghense'' Dai, 1997'''' * '' Nanhaipotamon pingtanense'' Lin, Cheng & Chen, 2012 * '' Nanhaipotamon pingyuanense'' Dai, 1997'''' * ''

Nanhaipotamon wenzhouense ''Nanhaipotamon'' is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and Taiwan. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the South China Sea (; literally: 'South Sea'), for it oc ...

'' Dai, 1997'''' * '' Nanhaipotamon wupingense'' Cheng, Yang, Zhong & Li, 2003'''' * '' Nanhaipotamon xiapuense'' Cheng, Li & Zhang, 2009 * '' Nanhaipotamon yongchuense'' Dai, 1997'''' * ''

Nanhaipotamon zhuhaiense ''Nanhaipotamon'' is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and Taiwan. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the South China Sea (; literally: 'South Sea'), for it oc ...

'' Huang, Huang & Ng, 2012

Gallery

File:Nanhaipotamon hongkongense island.jpg, alt=N. hongkongense from Hong Kong Island, ''Nanhaipotamon hongkongense'' File:Nanhaipotamon hongkongense.jpg, alt=N. hongkongense hidden in crevice, ''Nanhaipotamon hongkongense'' File:Nanhaipotamon aculatum 1.jpg, alt=N. aculatum hiding in its burrow, ''Nanhaipotamon aculatum'' File:Nanhaipotamon aculatum 2.jpg, alt=N. aculatum hiding in burrow, ''Nanhaipotamon aculatum'' File:Nanhaipotamon guangdongense.jpg, alt=Nanhaipotamon guangdongense from Zhuhai, ''Nanhaipotamon guangdongense''

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q18585665 Potamoidea Freshwater crustaceans of Asia Decapod genera