EARLY DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES, INCLUDING THE FIRST CRAB, OF ALLOPETROLISTHES-ANGULOSUS (DECAPODA, ANOMURA, PORCELLANIDAE) FROM CHILE, REARED IN THE LABORATORY

The genus Allopetrolisthes consists of 3 species, all of them endemic to the southeastern Pacific (Peru and Chile). The first description of the early developmental stages of a representative of Allopetrolisthe s is presented. The morphology of the prezoea, the 2 zoeal stages, the megalopa, and the first crab stage of A. angulosus is described and i llustrated. Comparisons of the larvae of A. angulosus with those of sp ecies of Petrolisthes from the Pacific coast of the Americas revealed strong similarities of the larval appendages between these 2 groups. T he combination of the presence of (1) denticles exclusively on the int ernal margin of the telsonal setae in both zoeal stages and (2) 2 rows of spiniform setae on posterior spines of the carapace in zoea I is p roposed as a possible generic larval characteristic of Allopetrolisthe s.