1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Semi-aggressive; best kept with other Sulawesi inhabitants.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
Semi-aggressive; best kept with other Sulawesi inhabitants.
Small meaty foods and sinking pellets.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Direct-developing egg bearer · Hard
Direct developing eggs.
Pair in a hard alkaline tank.
Sulawesi-type tank with hard alkaline water and caves.
Stable warm hard water.
Few eggs.
Tiny crabs.
A freshwater crab known only from Lake Matano, Sulawesi. It is deep reddish purple overall, with black-tipped claws, white eyestalks and white leg joints, and its larger claw has a big white crushing tooth at the base.
Ehrenfried Schenkel described this small purple-and-white crab in 1902 from Lake Matano. It was later imported for aquarists alongside the lake's famous rabbit snails and shrimps.
First described by Ehrenfried Schenkel in 1902. Named for Named after Lake Matano.
10 facts checked with sources
Invertebrate: fully freshwater crab. Genus Syntripsa erected by Chia & Ng 2006 (earlier Parathelphusa / Nautilothelphusa matannensis). Trade caution: shops also sell the sister species Syntripsa flavichela as "Matano white claw crab" (Garnelio), but Chia & Ng know S. flavichela only from Lakes Mahalona and Towuti. The legacy colour "purple-red" fits S. matannensis (deep reddish purple), not S. flavichela (cream with red spots).
WoRMS / DecaNet record: Syntripsa matannensis (accessed 2026-10-16) · Chia & Ng 2006, The freshwater crabs of Sulawesi, with descriptions of two new genera and four new species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 54: 381-428New value. Chia & Ng (2006) used Parathelphusidae, now part of Gecarcinucidae.
WoRMS / DecaNet record: Syntripsa matannensis (accessed 2026-10-16)No maximum size found. The lectotype male is 3.1 cm carapace width; the Matano survey gives a mean of about 4 cm for the three endemic crabs together (mostly P. pantherina). Legacy 4 cm is plausible but not confirmed.
Chia & Ng 2006, The freshwater crabs of Sulawesi, with descriptions of two new genera and four new species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 54: 381-428 · Limnotek (2017): Aspek biologi kepiting endemik di Danau Matano (abstract, Indonesian)Habitat data for Lake Matano (27-31 °C; 28.7 °C in the shallows), not a husbandry source. Legacy 27-30 fits.
Wikipedia: Parathelphusa pantherina · Aquarium Breeder: Rabbit Snail guide (habitat water table)Habitat sources disagree (7.4 vs 8.5 in Matano/Towuti shallows); no husbandry source for this crab.
Wikipedia: Parathelphusa pantherina · Aquarium Breeder: Rabbit Snail guide (habitat water table)Only a single habitat reading (GH 7 in the shallows of Matano and Towuti); no husbandry source.
Aquarium Breeder: Rabbit Snail guide (habitat water table)Freshwater, lives under rocks and logs on sand; no source states an aquarium zone.
Chia & Ng 2006, The freshwater crabs of Sulawesi, with descriptions of two new genera and four new species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 54: 381-428New value.
Chia & Ng 2006, The freshwater crabs of Sulawesi, with descriptions of two new genera and four new species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 54: 381-428No source for S. matannensis itself. Direct development is documented in the hobby for the sister species S. flavichela and is likely, but not confirmed here.
Garnelio shop: White Claw Crab, Syntripsa flavichelaLegacy says "fully aquatic" and "rare"; it is a freshwater lake crab (WoRMS: freshwater only) but neither word is stated by a source.
Chia & Ng 2006, The freshwater crabs of Sulawesi, with descriptions of two new genera and four new species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 54: 381-428