Is this a Panther Crab?

[Reptiletopia]

Hi all, can any experts help me identify or comfirm whether or this is a Panther Crab, Parathelphusa pantherina, or something related? The colors look slightly different.
   

Next to my finger for rough size estimate. Carapace approximately 2-3cm across.
   

Cheers and thanks!

[Ollie Mengedoht]

Hi Reptiletopia & welcome to our Panzerwelten!

Well, it seems to be a P. pantherina. We had one in the same paler coloration ourselves, but coloration usually is variable within crustaceans. To be sure You could post pictures of the claws from the front and especially the carapace, I need to see the spines and general shape of the body. But I'm quite sure already.

Where 're You from and how'd You get it?

[Reptiletopia]

Hi BEASTIEPENDENT! I'm from Singapore and I got a pair from a local aquarium in hopes of getting them to breed .

Alright, I'll try to get some photos of their claws and carapace soon.

[Ollie Mengedoht]

Oh, Singapore, cool. Yeah, indeed we've heard they sell from time to time P. pantherina there as far as I remember. You get Cardisoma armatum regularly too (we saw it ourselves in a shop) and some other crab species. It seems You can get quite some species of crabs in Singapore.

   

Bredding… That hope had many, problem is: As soon as the P. pantherina get adult they start fighting for territory and get so aggressive You can never keep more than one in  a tank. 

Then there is Scylla serrata, a marine crab (or mud crab), You can buy it per weight

   

[Reptiletopia]

Hahaha... Mud crabs are tasty!
Anyway here's a picture of the carapace. Someone from another forum suggested that it could be Ceylonthelphusa.

   

Here's the female.
   

Is this a male or immature female? They are about the same size.
   

Cheers!

[Ollie Mengedoht]

That's indeed no Parathelphusa, as You can see clearly from the pleon it's a whole other family of freshwater crabs: not Gecarcinucidae but Potamidae. Ceylonthelphusa has ever stronger cristae than the P. pantherina, and they're Gecarcinids either.

The small male is a male, You can see by the different shape than that of the pleon of the female. You have a kind of rectangle and the last segment is a triangle. BTW Gecarcinid males have a T-shaped pleon, not that broad triangle like Potamids.

So a Potamid with a quite smooth carapace and just one (seeable big) anterolateral spine (it might be fine serrated after the first tooth/spine). Never seen something like this… Maybe some Geothelphusa sp…?

[Reptiletopia]

Thanks BEASTIEPENDENT, that was very insightful!