An overview of the Afrotropical freshwater crab fauna: Diversity, biogeography, and conservation (Brachyura, Potamoidea, Potamonautidae and Potamidae)

The Afrotropical region has a rich, highly diverse, and distinctly recognizable freshwater crab fauna comprising 145 species in 20 genera and two families. The entire Afrotropical freshwater crab fauna is endemic to Africa and its islands, and is distributed over 46 countries in eight distinct regions.Major centers of species richness include the Rift Valley of eastern Africa, the Upper Guinea forests of western Africa, and the Lower Guinea forests of central Africa. The IUCN Red List indicates that the majority (71%) of the 103 species of potamonautine and deckeniine Afrotropical freshwater crabs are of Least Concern and just two species are Near Threatened. Some twenty-eight species (27%) are listed in one of three threatened categories, either as Vulnerable (16 species), Endangered (10 species), or Critically Endangered (2 species). Excluded are the 33 species found to be Data Deficient because of a lack of information on distribution and population levels, and the 10 species discovered since the last assessment in 2009