Platythelphusa - Taxonomic History

Taxonomic History

The first freshwater crab to be described from Lake Tanganyika, by Alphonse Milne-Edwards in 1887, was considered so distinct from the other crabs known up to that time that it was placed in a new genus, as Platythelphusa armata. Twelve years later, a second species was described by W. A. Cunnington, leader of the third Tanganyika Expedition, and was also placed in a separate genus, as Limnothelphusa maculata. The same author later described a third species, Platythelphusa conculata, and eventually realised that all three belonged to the same genus, reducing Limnothelphusa to a taxonomic synonym.

In 1952, Capart did not recognise the species P. conculcata, but added four new species, P. denticulata, P. echinata, P. polita and P. tuberculata. Since that time, P. conculcata has been restored, and two new species have been described, P. immaculata and P. praelongata.