Spotted at Baħrija yesterday

Spotted at Baħrija yesterday. A big thanks to Gracias Jorge for this pic of a very rare Maltese freshwater crab.

This crab is an endemic species and found only in the Maltese Islands. It feeds on a wide range of items, for instance leaves and fruit; however it prefers to feed on animals, such as large insects and snails.

This crab lives where there is a permanent source of freshwater, generally near a watercourse, in burrows that it excavates.

This species has become very rare and endangered as result of restriction and loss of habitat and of illegal capture and killing. The Maltese Freshwater Crab is protected by law and it is illegal to deliberately disturb, capture or kill, attempt to kill, keep or transport any specimen of this species.