Potamonautes is a genus of African freshwater crabs in the family Potamonautidae. It is both the most widespread and most diverse genus of African freshwater crabs, including more than half the species of this continent. They are found in most freshwater habitats of the African mainland and some species are semi-terrestrial.

Species

It contains the following species: One extant species is also known from the fossil record; P. niloticus is abundant in Miocene sediments of Lake Albert. Extinct species assigned to Potamonautes are also known from the Late Cretaceous of Niger.

Distribution

Potamonautes are restricted to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Nile Basin, with more than 30 species in East Africa (none on Madagascar, the Seychelles and other offshore African islands), more than 20 in the Congo Basin region, 20 in Southern Africa, 6 in northeast Africa and 5 in West Africa. Although the genus includes common and widespread species, others have very restricted ranges of occurrence. For example, P. dubius is found only in limited parts of the Kunene River and upper Zambezi River in Southern Africa.