Habitat ecology of Burrowing crab Barytelphusa cunicularis in the tributaries of Purna river Parbhani (MS), India

The burrowing crab Barytelphusa cunicularis is mainly abundant in Purna river and its tributaries. This crab excavates and maintains huge semi-permanent open burrows with funnel shaped entrances whereas the tunnel shaped burrows internally curved as a wave with short distance (3-5 Ft.). Current study was carried out for the duration of year 20 18-2019 and total number of burrows noted in river Dudhan and Karpara the tributaries of Purna River in Parbhani region, Maharashtra. Mean frequency of burrows of size category (5.0 to 9.0) was 9.35 ± 0.40 and 6.92 ± 0.41 correspondingly in the tributaries of Purna river.