Potamon fluviatile icon in Malta following its legal protection in 1993, although not all scientists recognise the taxon. Potamon fluviatile Potamon fluviatile is a freshwater crab found in or near wooded streams, rivers and lakes in Southern Europe. It is an omnivore with broad ecological tolerances, and adults typically reach in size during their 10–12 year lifespan. They inhabit burrows and are aggressive, apparently outcompeting native crayfish. "P. fluviatile" has been harvested for food since classical antiquity, and is now threatened by overexploitation. Many of the island populations are particularly vulnerable, and the Maltese subspecies has become a conservation icon. A population
Blechnum fluviatile Blechnum fluviatile Blechnum fluviatile is a fern known in the Māori language as kiwikiwi. A herbaceous plant, "B. fluviatile" is a "hard fern" of the genus "Blechnum" in the family Blechnaceae. It was identified by Patrick Brownsey in 1979. Other common names are star fern, creek fern, kawakawa and kiwakiwa. Ladderlike fronds of "B. fluviatile" measure up to long. Growing in a distinctive ground-hugging rosette shape, its fertile fronds – dark brown and spiky – stand upright from the centre, while the drooping sterile fronds with their nearly round leaflets, form the rosette. As the parent plant ages it develops