VARIATIONS IN THE LARVAL STAGES OF A DECAPOD CRUSTACEAN, PLEURONCODES PLANIPES STIMPSON (GALATHEIDAE)

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Abstract
The young of Pleuroncodes planipes pass through a series of 5 morphologically discrete zoeal larval stages after hatching, and, except in Stage IV, the larvae change from one stage to the next by a single molt. Larvae in Stage IV may molt from 4 to 8 times without greatly altering their basic morphology. There is evidence from laboratory culturing that the number of these sub-stages may be influenced by the temperature at which the larvae develop, with higher temperatures causing more sub-stages. The duration of the larval phase is influenced by the temperature at which the larvae are reared, and the rate of development follows a Q10 of about 1.9. The larval duration is also influenced by rearing conditions other than temperature, for the size of the larval rearing container or the presence of other larvae in the container has also been shown to influence the duration of the larval phase. A larval stage was seen in the laboratory which has not been found in nature, and it is probable that the stage was an artifact of laboratory culturing conditions,, It may be generalized that variation in the number of larval molts is widespread in the Anomura; variation does not commonly occur in brachyuran Crustacea.