Morphology of Coenophthalmus tridentatus first zoea (Crustacea: Portunidae: Polybiinae) hatched in the laboratory

Abstract

The swimming crab Coenophthalmus tridentatus A. Milne Edwards, 1879 (Decapoda, Portunidae) is an endemic species of the Southwestern Atlantic, from southern Brazil to northern Patagonia (Argentina). Larvae of C. tridentatus from one female collected on beds of oysters and mussels at 50 m depth in the Argentine continental shelf (38° 21′ S, 57° 38′ W) were hatched in the laboratory. Zoea I morphology is described for the first time and compared with known zoeae of other portunid species.