Intermediate Larval and Postlarval Stages of Homarus Americanus H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Crustacea: Decapoda)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Intermediate larval and postlarval stages occasionally occur among intact lobsters, and can be produced in large numbers of eyestalk ablation. These intermediate stages result from incomplete metamorphosis, and occur in several forms, designated IVa, IV'', and V''. Stage IVa is an additional larval stage, intermediate between stages III and IV. Stage IV'' is a postlarval lobster that retains some larval morphology which it loses at the next molt. Stage V'' occurs when a stage IVa lobster fails to lose all of its larval characters when it molts to stage V. The principal behavioral and morphological features of these intermediate stages are described and compared.