page_title: Potamon ibericum
section_title: Ecology and behaviour
hierarchical_section_title: Potamon ibericum / Ecology and behaviour
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: de:Potamon ibericum tauricum im de:Mtirala Nationalpark in Georgien. Habitat: Erdloch an einem bewaldeten Talhang etwa 15 Meter oberhalb eines Flusses, Höhe ca. 1500 m über NN. English: en:Potamon ibericum tauricum in the en:Mtirala Nationalpark in Georgia. Habitat: Ground hole on a forested slope ca. 15 m above a river. Español: es:Potamon ibericum tauricum en el es:Mtirala Nationalpark en Georgia. Habitat: Sima en una ladera boscosa de un río. Apróximadamente 15 metros sobre el río.
context_page_description: Potamon ibericum is a Eurasian species of freshwater crab. It is an omnivore that feeds on land, but returns regularly to the water, and can survive short periods of drought in burrows and under stones. Its natural range stretches from north-eastern Greece, around both sides of the Black Sea and to beyond the Caspian Sea; populations have also been introduced to southern France. It is included as a near threatened species on the IUCN Red List, and is included in the Red Data Book for Ukraine. It belongs to the genus Potamon.
context_section_description: The continued survival of P. ibericum generally requires a permanent body of water, although the crabs can survive short periods of drought by retreating under stones, or into deep burrows. These burrows may be several kilometres from the nearest body of water. They only breed in moving water, with copulation occurring in the warmer months, from June to October.
  P. ibericum is an omnivore, eating detritus, filamentous algae, and plant matter, as well as a variety of animals, including worms, amphipod crustaceans, aquatic insect larvae, molluscs, frogs and tadpoles, fish, and carrion. It feeds on land during the night, and if the air is humid enough, also during the day. In the areas where it occurs, P. ibericum is a major food item for the European otter, Lutra lutra, alongside a variety of fish species.
caption: P. ibericum is an omnivore.
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