''Nanhaipotamon hongkongense'' is a species of freshwater crab of the genus ''

Nanhaipotamon ''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 ...

'', known to occur in

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 ...

( Hong Kong Island,

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

and a few smaller islands) and adjacent areas in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

and

Dongguan Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the ...

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

Description and life history

''Nanhaipotamon hongkongense'' is a burrowing species that digs burrows into muddy banks of small rivers and creeks or moist soil. It is a nocturnal species that mostly stays in its burrow during the day and comes out at night or after heavy rainfalls. Offspring hatch as miniature versions of adult crabs after direct development, like with all potamid crabs.

Distribution and habitat

This species is semiterrestrial and inhabits the banks of hillstreams, but can also be found in places far away from running water, such as moist areas were groundwater seeps through the soil, generally in secondary evergreen broadleaf forests. Whereas adults are rarely reported from actual aquatic habitats, juveniles and small adults may be found under stones or leaves in small ditches, creeks and ponds. ''N. hongkongense'' occurs from 17 to 514 meters above sea level. Although it has been known to tolerate certain amounts of pollution, such as plastic trash, it is not abundant in modified landscapes and in or close to densely populated human settlements, there is, however, anecdotal evidence of single crabs in schools and residential areas. First considered to be a

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

, it was recorded from cities bordering

, namely

and

Conservation

As of 2008, ''N. hongkongense'' is assessed to be "

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

" by the IUCN, Major threats to the species include habitat destruction and pollution. Researchers reckon that there may exist several isolated sub-populations due to habitat fragmentation, since many natural water courses have been piped or channelized in their downstream sections. The close proximity of habitats with large cities and the expected growth of them may put pressure on existing populations in the future. Currently, ''N. hongkongense'' is present in several protected areas in

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13874153 Potamoidea Freshwater crustaceans of Asia Crustaceans described in 1940 Invertebrates of Hong Kong

Description and life history

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

See also

References