Last year, Zhang Yixuan, a 17-year-old boy who loves nature and biology in Yulin, Guangxi, found several crabs in a mountain stream in Duqiao Mountain, Rong County. With his keen insight, Zhang Yixuan took 7 home and examined them under a microscope. After dissection and observation, it was found that compared with other species of the same genus, the ends of the male abdominal limbs of this crab are narrower and the edges are everted.

The curly-limbed Chinese stone crab.

By reviewing a large amount of literature, he identified it from a morphological point of view and believed that this crab was a new species. At the suggestion of netizens, he contacted Associate Professor Zou Jiexin of Nanchang University and sent the specimen to Nanchang. Under the guidance of Associate Professor Zou Jiexin, Zhang Yixuan further provided relevant information about the living environment and origin of this crab for laboratory research. Combined with genetic and molecular testing, this crab was identified as a new species: the curly-limbed Chinese stone crab.

It was also this discovery that expanded the genus Hua Shi Crab from 3 species to 5 species. With the addition of this new species, Guangxi’s 43 species of freshwater crabs surpass Taiwan’s 42 species, becoming the province with the second largest diversity of freshwater crabs in China after Yunnan.

Zhang Yixuan observed the abdominal organs of crabs through a microscope.

I have loved nature and biology since I was a child

Zhang Yixuan is 17 years old and a prospective senior student at Yulin High School. He is not tall, and under his thick black hair is a pair of small eyes that look a little confused but are actually clear. The mustache deliberately grown on his chin shows a calmness that is inconsistent with his actual age.

Zhang Yixuan and his father were collecting small crabs in the mountains.

“When we were young in the countryside, we often caught fish and shrimps.” Dad grew up in the countryside, and his greatest pleasure was catching fish and shrimps with his friends. Perhaps influenced by his father, Zhang Yixuan has been particularly fond of fish, shrimps and crabs since he was a child. Later, with the rise of smart phones, in order to prevent children from being exposed to electronic products, parents took them to play outdoors and embrace nature whenever they had free time.

Yuzhou Qianguixi crab collected by Zhang Yixuan.

Points for outstanding teenagers Like!