Maltese Freshwater Crab (Qabru)
Last Sunday I set out to try to see and hopefully photograph the highly endangered Maltese Freshwater Crab (Scientific: Potamon fluviatile lanfrancoi; Maltese: Il-Qabru, Granċ tal-Ilma Ħelu) here in Malta. It is en endemic species to the island and only exists in a handful of places on the island of Malta and in one place on the sister island of Gozo. To be honest I didnt’t have much faith I would find one, and even less get a decent shot of the animal. How wrong I was… A friend of mine had kindly sent me some detailed directions to one of the spots where one can find these crabs.
WOW! after 2-3 minutes I had spotted the first Maltese Freshwater Crab. I was rather surprised on how large it was. The first crab I saw was in its burrow and rather hard to photograph. It seemed comfortable and safe in its burrow. I snapped a few shots.


