Endangered
Phricotelphusa gracilipes
Phricotelphusa gracilipes
Phricotelphusa gracilipes is a decapod crustacean in the family Gecarcinucidae (order Decapoda), recorded as Endangered and tied to Malaysia.
The crayfish or crab
Decapods are ten-legged crustaceans — crabs, shrimps, and crayfishes. Freshwater species here are usually tied to a drainage.
Malacostracans include crayfishes, crabs, and shrimps. Freshwater species are often narrow endemics.
Range and habitat
It is found only in a small area (less than 500 km2) in the northern part of Malaysia, specifically on the highlands of Pulau Langkawi Island in the Langkawi Archipelago, where it is found on the banks of fast-flowing rivers and waterfalls. Its habitat is threatened by habitat loss and disturbance.
GBIF currently lists 10 occurrence points. Those points follow where people logged the taxon — museum drawers and surveys included — not a closed range boundary.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Habits
Freshwater crayfishes and crabs walk the bed. Dams, silt, and introduced species cut a drainage into fragments they cannot cross.
Crayfishes and crabs need cover and clean water. A named form from one creek is not interchangeable with the next drainage.
In crisis
This freshwater species is considered an endangered species.
Phricotelphusa gracilipes is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the Dutch Wikipedia article on Phricotelphusa gracilipes, translated and retold in English, plus Wikidata item Q14090263 and GBIF occurrence geography. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Confirm status and range on iucnredlist.org.
