Larval development of the ghost shrimp Callichirus islagrande (Decapoda : Thalassinidea : Callianassidae) under laboratory conditions

Descriptions of the zoeal and decapodid stages of the ghost shrimp Callichi rus islagrande were based on laboratory cultures from a population inhabiti ng the coast of Louisiana. Whereas morphological studies were based upon an imals from mass cultures, 40-120 larvae from each of 8 parental females wer e reared individually to obtain stage-duration data. Larvae passed through 4 or 5 zoeal stages before molting to the decapodid stage. The proportion o f individuals that molted to a fifth zoeal stage varied widely (9-89%) betw een clutches of different parental females. The first juvenile stage was us ually reached 16-20 days after hatching, and durations of larval stages wer e similar in larvae from different females. Morphological comparisons with congeneric species revealed larvae of C. islagrande to be more similar to l arvae of C. garthi, a species from the coast of Chile, than to larvae of a Gulf of Mexico population of Callichirus major.