n the Maltese language the freshwater crab or river crab {Potamon sp.) has a common name and is referred to as Qabru (plural: Qwabar). Thanks to this common name it is possible to know the first probable reference, in the literature, to the freshwater crab in Malta. In 1647 the Maltese historian Fra Giovanni Francesco ABELA, while describing Malta, indicated the locality “Marsa piccola” with the words “Marsa picciola detta Sciat el Kuabar, cioè lido di grand” (ABELA 1647). Up to some decades ago in the early 19th century the locality of Marsa, situated at the head of Grand Harbour, was a large marshy area fed by the flood waters of Wied il-Kbir. This marshy area was drained between 1850 and 1860 as a precaution against malaria and is now occupied by the Marsa Sports Grounds (CASTAGNA 1888). Up to at least 1873 the freshwater crab still survived at Marsa, as recorded by Gavino GULIA, who also gave its first scientific determination, Thelphusa fluviatilis LATR., and added “Comune nei ruscelletti e nelle acque dolci alla Marsa, Gnejna, Lunzjata. Maltese: Kabru, Grane ta Pilma helu, Grane ta l’art.