''Mahatha'' is a genus of

freshwater crab Around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, divided among eight family (biology), families. They show direct development and maternal care of a small number of offspring, in contrast to marine c ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Four of the six species are

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

due to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, and two are listed as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

Species

''Mahatha adonis''

''Mahatha adonis'' is a widespread species, known from the Mahaweli Basin, Knuckles Massif and

Monaragala Monaragala (; ) is a town located in Monaragala District, Uva Province, Sri Lanka. It is the largest town and the capital of Monaragala District and is located southeast of Badulla, the capital city of Uva Province. Monaragala is situated about ...

. It is considered a species of

by the IUCN.

''Mahatha helaya''

''Mahatha helaya'' is only known from its type locality, near Kalupahana on the main

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Haputale Haputale (; ) is a town of Badulla District in the Uva Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. The elevation is 1431 m (4695 ft) above the sea level. The area has a rich bio-diversity dense with numerous varieties of flora an ...

road, and is therefore considered

by the IUCN. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''helaya'' comes from the Sinhalese word for an inhabitant of Sri Lanka.

''Mahatha iora''

''Mahatha iora'' is only known from its type locality, near the Dunhinda Falls, and is therefore considered

by the IUCN.

''Mahatha lacuna''

''Mahatha lacuna'' is only known from its type locality, near

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

, and is therefore considered

by the IUCN. The

, from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "hole", refers to the deep burrow in which the species was found.

''Mahatha ornatipes''

''Mahatha ornatipes'' was originally described in 1915 by Roux as ''Paratelphusa ornatipes'', and was later described as ''Ceylonthelphusa inflatissima'' Bott, 1970. It is widespread in the wet zone of Sri Lanka and is considered a species of

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

''Mahatha regina''

''Mahatha regina'' is only known from its type locality, near Pundaluoya, and is therefore considered

by the IUCN. The specific epithet (Latin for "queen") refers to the species' "regal appearance".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6733473 Gecarcinucidae Decapod genera Freshwater crustaceans of Asia Crustaceans of Sri Lanka Taxonomy articles created by Polbot