The complete larval development of the ghost shrimp, Callianassa japonica Ortmann, 1891 (Decapoda: Thalassinidea: Callianassidae), reared in the laboratory

Abstract

Larvae of the thalassinidean shrimp, Callianassa japonica Ortmann, 1891, were reared through their entire development in the laboratory, starting from zoea 1 released by females collected on an intertidal sandflat of Ariake Sound in western Kyushu, Japan, in the middle of June, 1997. The larval development consisted of five zoeal stages and a decapodid stage. Minimum durations of the zoeal stages 1-4 and the zoeal stage 5 were 3 days and 4 days, respectively, at water temperatures of 22.0-24.7℃ and salinities of 33.2-33.8. Morphology of each stage was described in comparison with that of another Japanese callianassid, C. petalura. The two species can be distinguished at the zoeal stage 1 and the decapodid stage, based on the presence (C.japonica) or absence (C. petalura) of a coxal seta on maxilliped 2 (in zoea 1) and on the smaller number of segments of the antennal flagella in C. japonica (in decapodid: 20-21 vs. 24-25).