Morphological description of the first zoeal stage of the tropical xanthh crab panopeus purpureus lockington, 1877 (crustacea, decapoda, brachyura, xanthtdae)

Abstract

The first zoeal stage of the tropical xanthid crab Panopeus purpureus Lockington is described based on larvae from an ovigerous female collected from mangroves on the Pacific coast of Panama. The report is the first description of larvae of any Pacific member of this common and ecologically important genus. Morphological features are similar to those of previously described larvae of Panopeus from the Atlantic, with some exceptions noted.