On the photos on this page you can see the narrow tarsi on the front legs. Many Lesser Waterboatman species have broadened and flattened tarsi, especially so the males. But Cymatias do not churn up the detritus on the ditch floor, but actively predate on small creatures and so the tarsi are not little shovels, but 'catching baskets'. The remarkable long claws on the mid legs are quite normal for Lesser Waterboatman.

The picture at right is a crop enlargement of the picture above left.