[6] Potamon fluviatile is edible,[8] as indicated by its alternative specific epithet edulis,[3] and was known to the ancient Greeks; it is probably this species which they depicted on medals found at Agrigento, Sicily.

[10] Potamon fluviatile has a generalist diet, feeding on vegetable debris, scraping algae from surfaces, or preying on frogs, tadpoles, and various invertebrates, such as insect larvae,[11] snails or worms.

[8] No predator seems to specialise on P. fluviatile, but a number of animals take it opportunistically, including rats, foxes, weasels, birds of prey and jays.

[8] In the Tosco-Emilian Apennines, P. fluviatile is only found south of the watershed, in contrast with the crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes, which occurs on both sides on the mountains.

[1] Potamon fluviatile is widely distributed in much of mainland Italy, especially in the regions of Trento, Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Campania, Apulia, and Calabria, as well as on the island of Sicily.

[3] In 1997 a population of P. fluviatile was discovered under the ruins of Trajan's Forum in the heart of Rome, living in canals built by the Etruscans which connect to the Cloaca Maxima.

[13] Based on a genetic analysis, which demonstrated that these crabs were similar to those in Greece, researchers believe that they had been brought by the Greeks before the founding of the city, some 3000 years ago.

The crabs' unusual size, up to 12 cm (4.7 in), and longevity (up to 15 years) are also interpreted as evidence of a long-established population, by analogy with island gigantism.

[15] In mainland Greece, P. fluviatile is found in the drainages of the Axios, Thyamis, Aheron and Arachthos, Pineiós, Piros-Tethreas, Pamisos and Evrotas rivers.

[1] In the Aegean Islands, it is found on Skiathos and Skopelos (Sporades), on Euboea and Skyros, and at a single site on Andros in the Cyclades.