Afrithelphusa

Afrithelphusa is a genus of freshwater crabs in the family Potamonautidae. It contains four species,[1] all of which were formerly listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are all endemic to the Upper Guinean forests of Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Afrithelphusa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Decapoda
Infraorder:
Brachyura
Family:
Potamonautidae
Genus:
Afrithelphusa

Bott, 1969
Type species
Afrithelphusa gerhildae
Bott, 1969

Afrithelphusa afzelii

Afrithelphusa afzelii (Colosi, 1924) is known from two specimens collected before 1800 from a single, unknown locality in Sierra Leone. It is considered possibly extinct.[2]

Afrithelphusa gerhildae

Afrithelphusa gerhildae (Bott, 1969) is known from three specimens collected in 1957 in Kindia, Guinea. Although population sizes are not known, the expansion of slash and burn agriculture and deforestation are likely to have caused it to decline. The lack of information about this species has led to its reappraisal as Data Deficient.[3]

Afrithelphusa leonensis

Afrithelphusa leonensis (Cumberlidge, 1987) is known from three specimens collected in 1955 at one locality in Guinea. It is considered critically endangered.[4] The crab is among the 25 "lost species" that will be surveyed in the "Search for Lost Species" program by the non-profit organization Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC).[5]

Afrithelphusa monodosa

Afrithelphusa monodosa (Bott, 1959), the purple marsh crab, is the best known of the four species, new populations having been discovered since 1996. Despite this, fewer than 20 specimens have been collected, and the total population is likely to be less than 2,500. This crab is now listed as endangered.

References
  1. Peter K. L. Ng; Danièle Guinot & Peter J. F. Davie (2008). "Systema Brachyurorum: Part I. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran crabs of the world" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 17: 1–286. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06.
  2. Neil Cumberlidge (2008). "Afrithelphusa afzelii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T594A13066024. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T594A13066024.en. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  3. Neil Cumberlidge (2008). "Afrithelphusa gerhildae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T593A13065804. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T593A13065804.en. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  4. Neil Cumberlidge (2008). "Afrithelphusa leonensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T592A13065596. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T592A13065596.en. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  5. "The Search for "Extinct" Species - Island Conservation". Island Conservation. 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
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