A new population of the freshwater crab - Potamon fluviatile lanfrancoi - has been discovered at Wied Għajn Żejtuna in Mellieħa by Arnold Sciberras, Jeffrey Sciberras and Saviour Vella.
The discovery is reported in the 2009 edition of the natural history journal The Central Mediterranean Naturalist published by Nature Trust Malta which was launched last Thursday. Other discoveries include a new population of the mrtyle tree (riħan) in Gozo, by Stephen Mifsud, the rare Jujube tree in Wied ta' l-Isperanza, by Alex Casha, and notes on non-indigenous bird species in Comino, by Arnold Sciberras.
The current and back issues of the journal may be downloaded from the website www.naturetrustmalta.org/betacmn/Default.aspx. Only a limited number of hard copies have been published.
The 2009 edition is dedicated to Edwin Lanfranco, a co-founder of Nature Trust who is acknowledged as Malta's leading botanist and an inspiration to all local naturalists.
Editor-in-chief Alan Deidun praised the dedication of local naturalists and highlighted the importance of the journal in bringing to light new aspects of local biodiversity.